Woman Cleaning Gun Kills Friend, Faces Manslaughter Charge: Cops

NORCROSS, GA -- A Gwinnett County woman was cleaning her gun when it fired and killed her roommate Saturday, according to police.

The victim has been identified as Dixie Cowe, 43, of Norcross.

The shooter has been identified as Keely Kilpatrick, 26, the roommate of Dixie Cowe. Kilpatrick has been charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter and is being held at the Gwinnett County Detention Center without bond.

At around 6:30 p.m., officers assigned to the West Precinct were dispatched to a "person shot" call at a home on Wynhall Drive in unincorporated Norcross. When officers arrived, they found a woman who was suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest. The victim was transported to a local hospital with significant injuries.

Due to the severity of the injuries, detectives were called to the scene to investigate. Three women live at the home: a mother, her daughter and a friend. According to the preliminary investigation, the mother was upstairs. Kilpatrick, the daughter and ultimately determined to be the shooter, told her mother that she was going to go downstairs to clean a firearm, police said. Cowe was downstairs.

The mother told police she heard a loud noise sounding like a gunshot. She went downstairs to investigate. Kilpatrick immediately told her that the gun accidentally went off and struck Crowe. After arriving at the hospital, Cowe died as a result of her injuries.