Milwaukee dad accused of killing son in dispute over cleaning room

MILWAUKEE -- (WITI) -- A father is accused of killing his own son, a crime prosecutors say stemmed from an argument about cleaning his room. The shooting that happened on Saturday, Aug. 18 sent shockwaves through the neighborhood near 37th and Oklahoma.

Randell Wright, 47, is charged with first-degree reckless homicide in the shooting death of his 21-year-old son, Jakari Wright.

Randell Wright appeared visibly shaken in court on Thursday, Aug. 23. Wright told officers Saturday, "I lost my son on some bull (expletive) that shouldn't have even went down."

The complaint indicates when officers asked him what happened, Wright stated, "we had a big argument, a fight." He went on to say, "I told him to clean up his room, keep things together, you know. It was just something that was constantly going back and forth -- so I got my gun and he's like, 'kill me. I want to die.' I said 'no -- just get your stuff and leave.' Then we started wrestling for the gun. It went off."

Randell Wright told officers during the scuffle, Jakari Wright "grabbed him by his shirt and then by his hair." To avoid Jakari Wright grabbing the firearm, Randell Wright said he pushed Jakari while stepping back onto something, and losing his balance. This caused the gun to "accidentally go off."

Prosecutors say there are conflicts with Randell Wright's account of what happened based on the fact that the victim was "shot in the back of the head."