Chester man jailed after he admits shooting girlfriend
MEDIA COURTHOUSE » A 47-year-old Chester man was sentenced to four to 10 years in state prison Monday after pleading to charges of aggravated assault and illegal possession of a weapon in a January shooting.
Stacey Hatcher, of the 800 block of Mary Street, apologized to Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge Richard Cappelli during the plea hearing, saying he was “deeply sorry that this happened.”
Hatcher was arrested Jan. 26 following a short standoff with police that began when he shoved his girlfriend out of his house and shot her in the leg.
Chester Patrolman Matt Steward responded to the Mary Street address at about 7:45 a.m., where he met the 29-yearold victim outside. The woman told Steward that Hatcher had shot her and was still inside the house before she was transported to Crozer-Chester Medical Center for treatment.
The city’s SWAT team was mobilized and Hatcher was taken into custody about an hour later. Police entered the residence using a key from a relative and found Hatcher unarmed in a bedroom.
Hatcher later told detectives that the victim, his girlfriend, had spent the prior night at his house. The two began arguing in the morning and he said he asked the woman to leave, but she refused, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
After struggling with the victim and moving her downstairs, Hatcher said he went back upstairs to retrieve a gun “to scare (the victim) into leaving the residence,” the affidavit states.
Hatcher told investigators he accidentally discharged one round while pointing the gun in the air, then pointed the gun downward and accidentally fired a second shot, striking the victim.
Hatcher said he became nervous and went back into the house. He tossed the gun into an abandoned property next door, where police later retrieved a revolver with four live rounds and two spent casings in the cylinder. The gun belongs to Hatcher’s mother.
The victim told investigators she had been in the house with Hatcher the night before “getting high and drinking.” An argument led to a physical fight and Hatcher forced her from the house before pulling a small black and brown gun out and firing two shots at her, according to the victim. The woman said she ran to a nearby residence and asked for help.
Hatcher was initially charged with attempted murder, simple assault, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, possession of a firearm prohibited and firearms not to be carried without a license.
The attempted murder charge was dismissed by the lower court and the remaining charges were dismissed under the negotiated plea worked out by Assistant District Attorney Matthew Catania and defense counsel Brian Gondek.
Hatcher is a convicted felon who is prohibited from possessing a firearm. He was not on probation or parole at this time of this offense.
Hatcher has been incarcerated since his arrest in lieu of $1 million bail. In addition to prison time, he was ordered to serve five years of consecutive state probation, provide a DNA sample to state police and have no inappropriate contact with the victim. He was also ordered to forfeit any claim to the firearm.