Police: Man arrested for killing best friend while playing with gun

A man who wrongly thought he had unloaded a gun before pointing it at his friend and pulling the trigger at an Orlando apartment complex has been arrested on a manslaughter charge, police said.

Deontay Nashawn Haynes, 20, was booked into the Orange County Jail early Thursday and is being held without bail on manslaughter with a firearm, a firstdegree felony that carries up to 30 years in prison.

Police were called about 3:40 p.m. Wednesday to the Oakmont Apartments on South Rio Grande Avenue, arriving to find 20-year-old Zavier Phillips shot. He was pronounced dead at Orlando Regional Medical Center.

According to OPD, investigators determined Haynes, Phillips and Phillips’ brother had been hanging out in a bedroom together when Haynes, who had a gun he thought he had unloaded, took aim at Phillips.

He pulled the trigger and mortally wounded Phillips, police said.

Phillips’ brother, who lived with him at the apartment, told police that Phillips and Haynes were “best friends and they typically play with guns once they are unloaded,” according to an affidavit for Haynes’ arrest.

“He assumed the gun was unloaded tonight but when [Haynes] pressed the trigger it fired,” the affidavit said. “He stated there weren’t any arguments and there was no way [Haynes] would purposely shoot [Phillips].”

Phillips’ brother said the three had been just talking prior to the shooting. The gun belonged to Phillips, his brother said, according to police. It was Haynes who called police after Phillips was wounded.