Weatherford Man Found Guilty of Manslaughter

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April 28, 2021

By News Director Jared Atha

A Weatherford man was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter by a judge on Tuesday.

The ruling came after a two day bench trial that started on Monday in Custer County District Court.

22-year-old Cole Issac Phillips was convicted of the crime that took place on April 4, 2020 in a home in the 700 block of East College Street in Weatherford, where he shot another man two times after a dispute over marijuana.

Phillips would claim during a preliminary hearing last November, and again during testimony at the trial, that he committed the crime out of self-defense. A claim that was hotly disputed by the prosecution.

Evidence and testimony provided by the prosecution would show that based on the trajectory of the shots, and the time between the two shots – which were determined to be anywhere between 5-10 seconds, Phillips had shot the man once in the torso and once in the head – killing the man at the scene.

A sentencing date for Phillips has been scheduled for July 2.