2 Fort Worth teens took ecstasy, handled guns before fatal shooting, warrant says
Dalton Bailey and Michael McClenny smoked marijuana and took ecstasy last month as they filmed videos of themselves brandishing handguns at a Fort Worth home, according to court documents.
Two other teens were with them as they handled the unloaded handguns.
After they finished the videos, McClenny reloaded one of the handguns and forgot about it, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
At some point, McClenny told Fort Worth detectives, he pulled the trigger, forgetting he had reloaded it.
The shot hit the 18-year-old Bailey in the head, killing him, according to the warrant obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Wednesday.
Bailey was pronounced dead at McClenny’s home, just days before his 19th birthday, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office website.
Days later, McClenny, 18, was arrested and charged with manslaughter. He is free on $25,000 bond.
Tracie Kenan of Fort Worth, McClenny’s attorney, could not be reached Wednesday for comment.
Fort Worth police responded to the shooting call on the night of Nov. 23 at McClenny’s home in the 5900 block of Misty Breeze Drive.
The warrant written by Detective M. Barron gave this brief account of the shooting:
McClenny and the two other teens who were present provided detectives information on the incident.
The teens including Bailey were at McClenny’s home on the night of Nov. 23 while McClenny’s mother was on a trip to Hawaii.
They all had been smoking marijuana while McClenny and Bailey also took ecstasy.
The four filmed videos of themselves brandishing firearms. One of the pistols belonged to McClenny’s mother, while a semiautomatic weapon belonged to McClenny, according to the warrant.
McClenny told detectives he unloaded the pistols while they taped the videos.
When they finished with the videos, McClenny said, he reloaded his mother’s weapon to return it to her room.
Before the shooting, McClenny recalled turning toward Bailey, who was seated on a bed and holding the weapon at his waist.
McClenny demonstrated how he held the weapon to detectives and it wasn’t pointing at Bailey.
Forgetting that he had reloaded it, McClenny pulled the trigger and shot Bailey, who was only a few feet away, according to the warrant.
Immediately, McClenny called his mother and another teen called 911.
After the shooting, McClenny told detectives he had taken hunter safety and firearms training at a shooting range, and he had previously fired weapons at least 30 times, according to the warrant.
McClenny told detectives that he had been taught never to point a loaded or unloaded weapon at another person.
