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WINDY CITY TIMES
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Gay Decatur man killed just weeks after civil union
by Kate Sosin, Windy City Times
2011-07-20
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This article shared 4087 times since Wed Jul 20, 2011
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Joseph C. Mason-Wells, a 30 year-old man who celebrated his civil union on June 3, was fatally shot just over a month later as he sat watching television with his husband.
Mason-Wells and his husband, Jeff Mason-Wells, had returned from their night jobs to their home at 2225 E. Wood and were watching television in the early hours of July 9. At 4:19 a.m., a stray bullet came through their living room window and struck Joseph in the head.
Police said the bullet traveled approximately a city block from the 2200 block of North Maine, which faces the Mason-Wells backyard.
Police arrested Mattisha Houston and her husband, Quincy Houston, after neighbors directed police toward their home.
The couple told police that Mattisha Houston had asked her husband to show her how to fire the gun, and the two went outside to shoot at a tree in the backyard.
Detective Sgt. Cody Moore said it was unclear if the Houstons knew the shot had penetrated a neighbor's window.
"It's not believed that you could have seen a person inside of the window," said Moore, suggesting that the fatal shot was not intentionally fired at either Mason-Wells partner.
The Houstons both face charges of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated discharge of a firearm and reckless discharge of a firearm. Quincy Houston has been released on bond, while Mattisha Houston remains in custody.
According to an obituary in the Decatur Herald and Review, Mason-Wells enjoyed music, travel and video games. He met Jeff Mason-Wells in December 2005. The couple was one of the first in Decatur to obtain a civil-union license. |
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This article shared 4087 times since Wed Jul 20, 2011
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