Murder charge reduced to manslaughter in woman?s death

He was charged with murder after shooting his common-law-wife squarely in the chest with a three-five-seven Magnum revolver, but today Lloyd Brakeman is out on bail following a reduction in charges. On the evening of November twenty-first, 2004, Brakeman and his girlfriend of two years, Irene Gibson, were at their home at the corner of Baghdad and Alexandria Streets when the powerful firearm went off, knocking her to the floor, dead. Brakeman told police it was an accident and the only witnesses were Gibson’s three small children. She was also five months pregnant. Today, according to a memo from D.P.P. Kirk Anderson to Chief Magistrate Herbert Lord, the murder charge was reduced to manslaughter and manslaughter by negligence. Brakeman was additionally charged with keeping a prohibited firearm and unlicensed ammunition. Bail was set at five thousand dollars, which was met by the defendant. After over seven months in prison, Brakeman is now free while his case is processed for prosecution in the Supreme Court.