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A white woman in Georgia who claimed she was checking her gun before bed is facing charges in the fatal shooting of her Black boyfriend.
On Sunday (February 23), Telvin Osborne, 30, was pronounced dead at Georgia hospital after authorities found him in a bedroom with a gunshot wound to his chest.
Law enforcement officials had responded to a report of a shooting made by his girlfriend, Hannah Cobb, 25 at around 5:45 a.m. Cobb told Burke County deputies that she and Osborne had just gotten home after being out all night. The 25-year-old claimed she was checking her firearm "as they do every night" when the gun went off, striking Osborne. Cobb told deputies she thought the gun was safe when she was checking it.
Cobb wasn't initially arrested, sparking social media and community outrage.
Following an investigation, Sheriff Alfonzo Williams said it was determined that the shooting wasn't accidental. Cobb was arrested on Tuesday (February 25) and booked into Burke County jail on a felony involuntary manslaughter charge, per WRDW.
Williams said alcohol was involved in the shooting. There was an altercation with some "pushing and shoving" before the gun went off, according to the sheriff.
“It is reckless to go out and get drunk and then introduce a firearm into an argument,” Williams said in a statement.
The case is being treated like a homicide, and the suspect's charges could be upgraded.
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