Man says woman’s death an accident

A man on trial for the shooting death of his girlfriend told jurors Thursday that the gun he was holding went off in a struggle with the woman’s mother.

Darius Jones denied testimony from earlier witnesses that he killed Cortesa Chambers execution-style after dragging her into the house in a headlock and that he previously had “slapped the daylights out of her” in front of a friend.

Chambers, 25, died of a gunshot wound to the right side of her head on April 11, 2011, in the bedroom of their home at 2566 Lagena in South Memphis.

On Wednesday her mother, Berthine Chambers, told jurors she was standing between the couple, trying to keep Jones from killing her daughter when the defendant reached over her shoul- der with the gun in his left hand and fired point blank.

On Thursday, Jones gave a different account.

“She (Berthine Chambers) tried to twist the gun out of my right hand and the gun went off and hit her (Cortesa Chambers) in the head,” said Jones, who has been in jail without bond since the shooting. “I jerked and backed away from her, and it went off. I was shocked. I couldn’t believe what had hap- pened.”

Jones also disputed the mother’s testimony that he chased her out of the house at gunpoint after killing her daughter. The mother called him “that dog” in her testimony.

“Miss Berthine, I know you hate me, but I can’t bring her back,” said a tearful Jones. “I’m sorry. It was the worst day of my life. I ain’t mean for none of this to happen.”

He said he was angry with Cortesa Chambers that day because he could not find the $1,000 in cash they had saved and that she had spent some of it on a tattoo.

Jones said, though, he could not explain what he meant in a short, rambling letter he wrote that day saying in part, “I am very tired of everyone calling my bluff,” and “I have no other choice.”

The case before Criminal Court Judge Lee Coffee is expected to go to the jury Friday.