Dirty Cop Faces Manslaughter Of Retired Librarian!

Retired librarian was murdered by an inept cop in a training session.

Some years ago, a woman who was practicing in defensive training was bucked by a cop who failed to check the firearm.

Now he's facing charges as well as the police chief.

Punta Gorda officer Lee Coel was charged with the felony manslaughter for firing the shot that killed 73-year old Mary Knowlton during a academy's "shoot/don't shoot" exercise. Coel was placed in the Charlotte County lockup and later released on bail.

Cop faces some serious heat for failed stunt.

Chief Tom Lewis was also charged for culpable negligence, a high misdemeanor. Lewis was place in the freezer pending the city's decision to either fire him out the cannon or hand him some major discipline.

Mary was trying to do defensive training in the case of robbery when Coel was coming in wearing a hoodie and mask. He failed to check his holster for blanks. He had grabbed the holster with live rounds.

His attorney, Jerry Berry said that the officer is regretful to the incident. However, he was surprised that the state would charge him for this. He didn't know that the firearm was live.

Something tells me that he wasn't trained properly or he's trying to invent a cop out. He's actually placing his idiocy on the chief of police and the victim.

The family of Mary Knowlton settled with $2 million with the city.

The attorney is confident that the charges will be thrown out.  He said, "once we can present our side of the case and additional facts that [prosecutors] might not know about, we're comfortable that the case will be dismissed or a jury will find him not guilty."

Coel could face 60 years in the iron college if found guilty. He is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.