(ORANGE BEACH, Ala.) - An Orange Beach man accused of killing his own friend posted $100,000 bond Friday afternoon.
Jon Christopher Washington was arrested Thursday morning after police say he fatally shot his friend, Kenny Myers, in the early morning hours Wednesday. Washington suffered a grazing gunshot wound to his forehead, and turned himself in after being released from the hospital. Police say Washington claimed it was an accident.
A neighbor and friend of Washington told LOCAL 15 she knows him as “Chris” and that he was always lively and energetic, but fell into a downward spiral in recent months.
“He went through a divorce,” Sharon Blackard, who lives directly across the waterway from Washington’s home, said. “He lost his job, had a home in Fairhope but moved here into his family’s home because of financial troubles.”
Blackard said she didn’t even recognize the man in the mugshot.
“It looks like he’s aged 10 years,” Sharon Blackard said. “He looks real rough. That’s not the Chris I know.”
Blackard believes Washington when he says it was an accident.
“He’s not a killer,” Blackard said. “This wasn’t premeditated and I do believe it was an accident.”
It will be up to District County to decide what degree murder charge Washington will face.
