A California woman killed by shrapnel from a cannon allegedly fired into her mobile home was identified and her boyfriend was charged in her death, NBCSanDiego.com reported.
Deputies said Richard Fox of Potrero in rural San Diego County called 911 early Tuesday to report that his girlfriend, Jeanette Ogara, 38, may have been killed in an accident.
Fox and another man had been working on the cannon outside the couple's home near the U.S.-Mexican border when it fired, sending a projectile crashing into the home, officials said. Deputies said Fox had loaded the cannon with powder from fireworks.
Deputies responding to the scene were heavily armed with assault rifles in an area where trailers and mobile homes were accessible only by a dirt road, NBCSanDiego.com said.
Deputies released Ogara's name on Wednesday. She was described as a stay-at-home mom.
The couple’s 4-year-old daughter was in the home but was uninjured, officials said.
Fox, 39, was described by neighbors as a handyman, said UTSanDiego.com, the website of the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper. He was treated with wounds to his right leg and arrested on charges of willfully and maliciously setting of an explosive device that caused death, UTSanDiego.com said.
Sgt. David Martinez with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said it's legal to own a cannon but not necessarily legal to fire it.
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