MARION COUNTY, Fla. – Detectives with the Marion County Sheriff's Office charged a man with manslaughter on Thursday night in the shooting death of his own mother.
According to his arrest report, deputies said Malcolm Jamal Thomas got into an argument with his brother Thursday morning -- an argument that turned physical.
Detectives said the two of them wrestled over a gun when it fired, killing their mother, Pearlie Mae Thomas.
In a jailhouse interview, Thomas told News 6 he didn't fire the gun.
"He (brother) pulled a gun out, went to shooting, and my mama got hit by a stray bullet," he said. "(It) went straight through her lungs and killed her."
Deputies told News 6 they believe Thomas was the primary aggressor in the fight, and will not be charging his brother with the death of their mother.
Thomas also denied firing shots at a Marion County sheriff's deputy after they responded to the scene, even though they said they found six spent shell casings and eight bullets in his pant pockets.
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He told News 6 he is grieving his mother's death, and he had one request of the judge he will face on Friday morning.
"Let me go to my mother's funeral," he said. "Let me go to my mother's funeral. Please. Please. That's what I want to do."
Thomas is charged with manslaughter in the death of his mother and attempted murder of a law enforcement officer. He's being held at the Marion County Jail on no bond.