Griffith man charged with killing girlfriend

A Griffith man is facing charges after killing his girlfriend when his gun went off accidentally.

Mike Lee, 23, of Griffith, was charged Sunday with unlawful possession of a firearm, a level 4 felony and reckless homicide, a level 5 felony.

Griffith police responded Saturday to the 1000 block of East 35th Avenue.

A witness said she heard a gun go off. His girlfriend, Toniesha Carter, was found in the fetal position on the bed in a back bedroom. The gun was next to her. She was shot in the head.

Lee said he was “trying to fix” his AR pistol and thought it was unloaded.

Police arrested him on a warrant for strangling Carter in October.

The witness said Carter had been living with her at the apartment for a month. Lee sometimes stayed, despite the past incident.

The woman took Carter to her shift at Amazon at 6 a.m. that day, but she was sent home for showing up without safety shoes. The woman said they came back and went to sleep. Around 3 p.m., she woke up and Carter came into her room to get a phone charger.

Soon after, she heard a gunshot.

Lee came to the room and said he shot Carter in the head. At first, she didn’t believe he was serious, due to his tone. When the woman asked if she was breathing, he said no. He called the cops.

The couple had arguments but none that day, she said.

The gun was an Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 multi-caliber pistol. Lee said they woke up around 1 p.m. and Carter made him food. She went to get a phone charger so he could watch a YouTube video to clear the gun.

He got one round out and thought it was empty. He bought the weapon the night before from “someone” in Illinois, the affidavit states.

Earlier, on Oct. 22, Carter told police that Lee had strangled her at the same apartment.

She answered his phone and got into a heated argument with his child’s mother. After he refused to leave, Carter locked herself in the bedroom. He kicked the door open, forced her on a bed and strangled her, the affidavit states.

She declined treatment. He was charged Dec. 28 with strangulation and misdemeanor domestic battery in that case.