Winthrop, Massachusetts husband charged with killing wife says gun "spontaneously went off"

A husband accused of shooting and killing his wife in Winthrop, Massachusetts last weekend claimed it was accident, according to a prosecutor.

Sean Brewer, 58, is charged with manslaughter in the death of his wife, 47-year-old Jacklyn Berry, at their home on Sunday morning. He cried throughout his arraignment Tuesday in Boston Municipal Court as a plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf.

Investigators said Brewer shot Berry at their apartment on Beacon Street in Winthrop during an argument Sunday morning. 

In court Tuesday, prosecutor Sarah McEvoy said police found Berry in bed suffering from a gunshot wound. Brewer sobbed as McEvoy recounted his side of the story.

"He claimed to the police that that morning he was sweeping his bedroom before church when he found items in his and his wife's bedroom that did not belong to him, including a jacket with a firearm in a pocket," McEvoy said. "He indicated he took the firearm out and asked Miss Berry about it. He indicated he didn't touch the trigger and the firearm spontaneously went off striking Miss Berry."

Berry died and Brewer was arrested. McEvoy said he has a "lengthy criminal record with numerous convictions including crimes of violence and drug offenses." She added that Brewer also has a pending case of assault and battery on a police officer and resisting arrest. His bail in that case was revoked and he was ordered held on $100,000 in the shooting. Brewer will stay in jail until additional hearings in all of his cases are held in June and July.

After the arraignment, Brewer's defense attorney Lorenzo Perez said police reports and Berry's dying words corroborate that it was an accidental shooting. Perez couldn't say where the clothes and gun came from but added that they were brought to the house by someone else.

The couple was also newly married and very happy, Perez told reporters.

Berry's family is raising money online to cover costs from the hospital and her funeral.

"Jackie was sweet, loyal, loving, and kind. She was a nurturer. She was a proud sister, daughter, and auntie, niece, friend and cousin to so many. Words cannot express the devastating impact of this loss on all of us. The world is a little less bright today because she's gone. Jackie, we will love and miss you for the rest of our days," Berry's sister Roselyn Berry said in a statement.

Berry's landlord said she was "a great tenant" who leased the apartment by herself and that Brewer "was not an approved tenant."

"We never received an application for him, he was not on any lease of ours, and we were never notified of a request to accept him as an additional tenant in the building," a spokesperson for Blue Sky Realty said in a statement Tuesday. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jacklyn's family and friends during this very difficult time."

Winthrop, Massachusetts is about 6 miles east of Boston.