Fort Worth teen gets probation for accidentally killing friend after filming gun videos
A 19-year-old Fort Worth man has been sentenced to seven years probation for accidentally shooting and killing his friend in November 2019 as a group of teenagers filmed videos of themselves brandishing handguns at a Fort Worth home.
In a plea agreement reached last week, Michael Tanner McClenny was given 84 months probation with deferred adjudication on a charge of manslaughter in the shooting death of Dalton Bailey.
McClenny and Bailey were 2019 graduates of Saginaw Chisholm Trail High School.
Bailey died on Nov. 23, 2019, from a gunshot wound to his head, according to ruling by officials at the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office.
McClenny had faced a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Initially, Fort Worth police reported in an arrest warrant that the shooting occurred after Bailey and McClenny smoked marijuana and took ecstasy A final autopsy report indicated Bailey had marijuana in his system, but not ecstasy.
Fort Worth police responded to the shooting call on the night of Nov. 23, 2019, at McClenny’s home in northwest Fort Worth.
McClenny and the two other teens who were present provided detectives information about the shooting.
The teens, including Bailey, were at McClenny’s home on the night of Nov. 23, 2019, while McClenny’s mother was on a trip to Hawaii.
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 obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram days after the fatal shooting.
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, according to the warrant.
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.
Bailey was pronounced dead at McClenny’s home, just days before his 19th birthday, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office.
After the shooting, McClenny called his mother and another teen called 911.
Days later, McClenny was arrested and charged with manslaughter. He has been free on $25,000 bond.
This story was originally published July 17, 2020 at 9:44 AM.
