A man who pleaded guilty Monday to fatally shooting his best friend told sheriff's investigators that he and the victim were "bad drunk" when the incident occurred on April 22, 2014.
According to information received Tuesday from the Bulloch County District Attorney's Office of the Ogeechee Judicial Circuit in response to a records request submitted by the Statesboro Herald, James Jeffrey Stubbs, 54, of B. Stubbs Road, admitted shooting Keith Wesley Brannen in the head with a shotgun and claimed Brannen had threatened to stab him.
He also told responding deputies, who woke him up after he passed out due to extreme inebriation, "I was trying to figure out if I was going to burn him or bury him," sheriff's reports stated.
According to the transcripts of interviews with Stubbs conducted at the Bulloch County Jail after he was taken into custody the night Brannen was shot, Stubbs said his "messed up day" began at 7:30 a.m., when he said he woke up and started drinking.
He took some scrap metal to the recycling center and then bought a case of vodka at The County Line package shop, reports stated.
Later that morning, he got a call from Brannen and went to pick up his friend to work on Brannen's truck, he said. Brannen had a teenage boy with him, the son of a friend. All three returned to Stubbs' home, where Stubbs and Brannen worked on the truck and consumed alcohol, reports stated.
Stubbs' girlfriend, Teresa Mixon, son Kyler Stubbs and others were at the home throughout the day. As the drinking progressed, tempers escalated and the two friends argued, according to witness statements in reports.
Deputies respond
Just before 10 p.m. on April 22, 2014, Bulloch County sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the B. Stubbs Road home off Highway 24 in response to a reported stabbing and shooting. When they arrived, they saw all the lights on at the house, a door standing wide open and Brannen on the ground. Reports stated the victim's clothes were soaking wet, which meant he had been lying there through an earlier rainstorm. He was still alive but barely breathing and bleeding from a head wound.
Deputies found four long guns on a couch inside, a fifth in a closet and a handgun on a table, as well as knives throughout the home. Stubbs, a convicted felon, was prohibited from owning firearms.
Deputies later learned that there had been no stabbing, only threats.
As investigators checked the scene, EMS was cleared to respond - having been held back in case of danger - and transported Brannen to Mill Creek Regional Park, where Air Evac took over and airlifted him to Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah, according to reports.
At the time, EMTs said Brannen was "breathing slightly" but unresponsive, and it was "not looking good." It was unlikely the victim would survive the flight, reports stated. He did, but he died a few days later.
Investigators found Stubbs passed out in bed. He was not wounded. As they attempted to wake him, Stubbs made "spontaneous utterances" as he fought to overcome inebriation, reports said.
Outside, investigators documented finding a spent shotgun shell, a live shell lying in a pool of blood and a baseball bat nearby.
Stubbs was taken to the jail for interviews, where he waived his Miranda rights to remain silent. He told deputies, "I was drunk, bad drunk," according to reports. He then said the shooting was an accident - that he saw some deer, went inside to grab a gun, came outside and "fiddled with it" and it went off. He stated he saw Brannen fall.
Accounts of the shooting
Stubbs listed the people who were at the home when the shooting occurred. He said his girlfriend's only remark after the incident was "Oh my God." However, in later interviews, Mixon and other witnesses told a different story.
Stubbs told investigators that after the shooting, he "went back in and laid on the bed, wishing he was dead." He said he saw Brannen lying there, bleeding, and said, "If (I) would have had any guts, (I) would have killed (my) own damned self," according to sheriff's reports.
During interviews, Mixon claimed she came out of her room and learned that Brannen had been shot. She said Stubbs pushed her down to keep her from checking on Brannen and insisted she take the teenage witness, the boy who had been with Brannen, home. She and other witnesses said Stubbs was "acting crazy" and belligerent and claimed he shot Brannen after Brannen threatened to stab him. In other statements, Stubbs said Brannen had stabbed him, but reports stated he had no wounds.
Mixon said the men had been arguing earlier. She said Stubbs told her Brannen had stabbed him and said, "I think he is dead," then pushed her and threatened to kill everyone in the house if she called 911, reports stated.
Stubbs insisted she take the teenager home, so she went into her bedroom, called her daughter, Melissa Mixon, and asked her to call 911. Then, Teresa Mixon took the boy home to Brooklet, she told investigators. She said Stubbs told her, "I'm not going back to prison."
According to reports, the teen said nothing to his mother about the shooting after returning home that night and went to school the next day. When investigators questioned him, he said he was too scared to say anything about what had occurred, reports stated.
He told investigators that Stubbs entered the house while arguing with Brannen and grabbed a rifle from a closet, then exchanged it for a shotgun. The teen was sitting on the couch, watching TV, and saw Stubbs load the gun before going back outside. He said he heard Stubbs yell, "Where are you?" Then he heard a gunshot, and Stubbs yelled, "Where are you now?"
The teen said Stubbs claimed Brannen had stabbed him, but the witness told investigators he did not see any blood on Stubbs.
Stubbs then went back inside and, while still holding the gun, threatened the boy and said they "had to get their stories together."
Victim's family speaks
Stubbs has a lengthy history of arrests in Bulloch and other counties, according to Bulloch County Jail records. While many are sealed by the state because of recent changes in privacy law, public records show Stubbs was arrested several times for battery, including incidents in November 1999 and January 2002.
In sheriff's reports, deputies stated they were "familiar with Jeff Stubbs and his long criminal history and involvement with the judicial system." During jail interviews, Stubbs reportedly told more than one deputy, "Keith threatened to kill me with a knife, so I killed him." While being taken into custody, Stubbs reportedly said, "I already put the shotgun back in the closet," "I killed the (expletive)," and "I shot him with my son's 12 gauge."
Brannen's family said Tuesday that they are glad the ordeal is over and that they do not have to endure a trial. Jury selection was set for this week, and the trial was scheduled to start the week after Easter.
On Monday, Bulloch County Superior Court Judge F. Gates Peed sentenced Stubbs to 30 years in prison - 20 years to serve for voluntary manslaughter, five years to serve consecutively for terroristic threats and five years to serve consecutively for possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
He also sentenced him to five years to serve concurrently for the charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, five years to serve concurrently for the cruelty to children charge and 12 months to serve concurrently for discharging a firearm while under the influence of alcohol.
The 30-year sentence is "what we agreed to at the last hearing," said Ricky Brannen, the victim's brother. "We were looking for 35, but 30 is close enough. We miss him. What can I say? It is what it is. I am glad it is over."
Sister Vicky Clifton said, "We have waited almost two years. We wanted life without parole, but 30 years is probably a good solution. None of us wanted to carry this to the public, and a trial would be ugly."
Another sister, Debbie Edwards, agreed.
"He will have to serve 90 percent of his sentence and probably won't ever get out of prison," she said. "It is a bad situation. You have to feel sorry for him, but you pay your consequences. What hurts the most is, Keith laid there for an hour and didn't nobody call for help."
She said Brannen's special-needs daughter asked to speak with Stubbs face to face before he is sent to prison, a request that was submitted in court Monday.
Herald reporter Holli Deal Saxon may be reached at (912) 489-9414.