By Monica Land
WARREN COUNTY – A grandfather charged with shooting a pregnant teenager in the stomach after she argued with his three granddaughter’s is being held on a $90,000 bond.
Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said 60-year-old Willie McCoy was arrested at his home on Saturday evening after he allegedly shot Kayla Allen inside the Sunrise Mart Convenience Store on Freetown Road.
Pace said the altercation began outside when McCoy pulled up in the parking lot with his three juvenile granddaughters.
“Kayla Allen and her boyfriend were at the convenience store,” Pace said, “when anther vehicle pulled into the lot…The four girls became involved in a verbal altercation that actually, for a moment, turned physical. And Kayla Allen and her boyfriend retreated into the store.”
Pace did not state what the altercation was about, but said it was the result of an ongoing situation between the four females.
“This was about nothing that had taken place then,” he said. “These girls are neighbors. Not literally living next door to each other. But they live in the same community. They all know each other. And apparently they had had words earlier in the week, maybe even months earlier. But this was the first time all of them were face to face.”
Pace said McCoy drove away from the store with his granddaughters inside his vehicle when Allen’s boyfriend, Arrinton Bowman, retrieved a gun from his vehicle.
“It was a small caliber handgun,” Pace said. “He put it in his pocket and he called 911. He was actually on the phone with the E-911 dispatcher when McCoy pulled back into the parking lot, and the boyfriend said, “Oh my god. He’s back.”
Pace said McCoy exited his vehicle, walked into the store and allegedly fired multiple rounds into the store.
“He just starts firing,” Pace said. “Kayla, the boyfriend and the store clerk are all behind the counter trying to seek cover.”
Bowman fired at least two shots in McCoy’s direction, but did not hit him, Pace said.
McCoy, however, hit a pregnant Allen twice – once in the stomach and once in the leg.
Allen was transported to River Region Medical Center, where Pace said she was in “serious” but apparently, non-life threatening condition.
McCoy was immediately identified and within 30 minutes of the shooting, deputies went to his residence and took him into custody without incident.
Pace said a .9 mm handgun, believed to be the weapon used in the assault, was found at McCoy’s home.
McCoy appeared in court on Monday where his bond was set at $90,000 – $30,000 for the alleged assault on Allen, Bowman and the store clerk.
Allen’s boyfriend has not been charged.
Pace also said McCoy has two prior misdemeanor charges in Warren County, but nothing of this magnitude.
“Rather than him being the parental figure and quelling the dispute and handling it perfectly,” Pace said, “he took it to the next level.”
