SKOWHEGAN — A St. Albans man accused of killing his uncle allegedly shot him in the head following an afternoon of drinking and later confessed to the crime after he was stopped while driving and charged with operating under the influence, according to court records.
Jeremy Erving, 24, is charged with murder in connection with the death of Randy Erving, 53, also of St. Albans.
The younger Erving, who was arrested on a murder charge Friday around 2 p.m., made his first appearance Monday in Skowhegan District Court and is being held without bail pending a Harnish hearing May 6 in Somerset County Superior Court. A Harnish hearing is held to rule on the state’s request that a person charged with a capital offense be held without bail.
The case also is scheduled to be heard by a grand jury, which will determine whether to indict Erving. Erving was represented in court Monday by attorney John Martin and will be assigned a court-appointed attorney before the Harnish hearing next month.
Erving was stopped by police Friday around 1 a.m. and charged with operating under the influence in the Penobscot County town of Dexter, according to an affidavit by Detective Hugh Landry, of the Maine State Police.
He was driving Randy Erving’s truck, and an Intoxilyzer test determined that his blood-alcohol level was 0.24 — three times the legal limit for driving.
Also in the truck was a loaded .30-30 rifle that Erving later said he had stolen from the home of another relative, and Randy Erving’s dog, according to police. He later told police he would never be allowed to drive Randy Erving’s truck, according to the affidavit.
When his girlfriend and her father came to the Penobscot County Jail to bail him out, Erving told them he had shot his uncle in the back of the head and he didn’t know why he did it, according to the police affidavit. The pair took Erving to the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office, where he told police he and his uncle had been drinking Thursday and that he didn’t remember much from that day, the affidavit said.
He told police that Randy Erving was his best friend and that they drank together nearly every day. His girlfriend dropped him off at Randy Erving’s home around noon Thursday, and the two drank together until Randy Erving decided to go to bed around 7 p.m., the affidavit said.
Jeremy Erving then allegedly broke into the home of another relative, stole Twisted Tea, Budweiser beer and the rifle, and returned to his uncle’s house. Police later inspected the relative’s house on nearby Todd’s Corner Road and confirmed a rear window had been broken and the owner was missing a .30-30 caliber rifle.
Jeremy Erving told police he returned to his uncle’s house after the break-in and “asked for a cigarette at some point and Randy gave him one,” according to the affidavit.
He told police that he drank a few more beers and didn’t remember much other than “a bang and a barrel” before he was arrested for OUI in Dexter early Friday morning.
“I asked, ‘So you remember you shot him?'” Landry wrote, “and Jeremy stated, ‘Well…’ and stated he was the only one there, it was pretty obvious.”
Police from the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office visited Randy Erving’s home Friday morning at 50 McNally Road in St. Albans and confirmed he was dead, the affidavit said. His body was found in his bed, and an empty .30-30 bullet cartridge was found nearby on the floor.
An autopsy from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed that he had died from a single gunshot wound to the head.
Two women who attended the court appearance Monday, including one who was crying as the hearing took place, declined to comment outside the court.
Rachel Ohm — 612-2368
Twitter: @rachel_ohm
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