Parrish man said he shot and killed his wife by accident. He’s sentenced to prison time
A Parrish man who told detectives he was working on his wife’s gun when he accidentally shot and killed her pleaded no contest to charges before the case went to trial.
Blake Meadows, 36, entered pleas of no contest to charges of manslaughter with a weapon and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to court records. He was scheduled to go to trial on Aug. 19 for the fatal 2021 shooting.
Circuit Court Judge Frederick Mercurio sentenced Meadows to 11 years in prison with credit for time served and five years of probation. Meadows must also undergo substance abuse and mental health evaluations, according to court records.
Manslaughter with a weapon is a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison, according to Florida Statutes.
Meadows’ attorney did not immediately respond to the Bradenton Herald’s request for comment.
Deputies with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Meadows’ home on Sept. 13, 2021, after “receiving a call from Blake Meadows indicating that he had accidentally shot his wife,” according to an arrest report.
Fatal shooting in Parrish neighborhood
When first responders arrived at the home in the 4200 block of Cottage Hill Avenue in the Silverleaf community, they said they found Ashley Meadows, 30, outside on the lanai with a single gunshot wound to the right side of her face. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Blake Meadows told investigators Ashley had recently purchased an AR-15 pistol and he was in the process of upgrading it when it went off unexpectedly. He said he was attaching a sling and holographic sight to the weapon and when he set it down on the kitchen table near the highchair, the gun accidentally went off.
When Blake Meadows looked up, he said he saw the sliding glass door was shattered and his wife was shot. He told investigators he then rushed to attempt CPR and hung up on a business call to dial 911, according to arrest records. A neighbor who heard him screaming for help ran over and took over CPR until first responders arrived, but they were unable to save her.
At some point, investigators say Blake Meadows put the gun used to kill his wife in a safe in the home office.
But a 9mm shell casing detectives found near an archway that leads to the dining area made them question Blake Meadows’ story. The kitchen table, where Blake Meadows told them he placed the gun, was on the opposite side of the kitchen from where detectives said they found the shell casing.
Manatee investigators doubted ‘accidental’ shooting
The sheriff’s office hired a crime scene reconstruction company to analyze the scene to determine where the AR-15 was positioned when it was fired. The area outlined in the report was on the far side of the kitchen near where the 9mm casing was found, while the kitchen table where Meadows insisted the AR-15 was accidentally fired from was in the “excluded zone,” according to arrest records.
“Based on the scene, it appeared more likely that the round was fired from the area the casing was located and not the kitchen table as Blake had described,” a detective wrote in the arrest report.
Detectives said they asked Blake Meadows several times if he was sure he placed the gun on the table and not the island countertop closer to where the shell casing was found, but they say he “was adamant that it was the table near the highchair.”
During questioning, detectives asked Blake Meadows if he might have been pointing the gun in Ashley’s direction and looking through the scope when the gun was fired, at which point they say his “demeanor seemed to change” and he said he “knows better and that he wouldn’t do that.
Blake Meadows told investigators he was not being negligent while handling the gun that day, according to an arrest report.
On Oct. 20, 2021, a little more than a month after the shooting, the sheriff’s office issued an arrest warrant for Blake Meadows and charged him with manslaughter with a firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Meadows served in the military as infantry and completed at least one tour in Afghanistan, the Bradenton Herald previously reported.
Kane County, Illinois court records show Blake Meadows previously pleaded guilty to charges of falsely reporting a crime and served two years probation for the offense from 2013 to 2015.
Investigators say they seized seven firearms from Blake Meadows’ house following the 2021 shooting.
