TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Arrest Made In Shooting

ADVERTISEMENT

By DAVID SOMMER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 25, 2008

Sheriff's detectives think they have unraveled a series of conflicting statements surrounding a Jan. 15 shooting that left a Moon Lake teen with a bullet lodged near his spine.

Christine Elaine Lightfoot, 35, of 11916 Boca Grande Ave., Moon Lake, a rural enclave several miles east of Port Richey, was free on $10,000 bail Thursday after being arrested Wednesday evening on a single count of aggravated battery, jail records show.

Russell Litten, 16, told family members and authorities that it was Lightfoot who shot him during a verbal dispute inside her garage late on the afternoon of Jan. 15, a detective's report states.

It says Litten ran from the shooting scene to his own home on nearby Bounty Street and was airlifted to St. Petersburg's Bayfront Medical Center.

The teen is recuperating at home, but a .22-caliber rifle bullet remains lodged between his bladder and spine, Pasco County sheriff's spokesman Doug Tobin said Thursday.

An attempt to contact Litten was unsuccessful.
Tobin said the investigation was hampered because Lightfoot and three youngsters who were present during the shooting all gave differing versions of the event.

The youths, "some of them her children," had not been charged, although Detective Pete Federico was still investigating and "there could be some additional charges," Tobin said Thursday.

Lightfoot's children "could be victims. ... They were just listening to their mother, and apparently they were just trying to cover for their mother," the spokesman said.

According to reports filed by Federico, the youths were gathered in the garage when Litten made a remark about Lightfoot's former boyfriend that angered her.
Lightfoot reportedly told her 13-year-old son to "get the gun" and responded "yes" when he asked if she meant the family's .22-caliber rifle.

The woman then warned Litten that she was going to shoot him and did so, the arrest report states.

She later told Federico that the weapon went off by accident when she threw it down on a work bench and that she only warned Litten she would shoot him if he mentioned "Scooter" again, the report states.

Reporter David Sommer can be reached at (727) 815-1087 or dsommer@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT