Details emerge in Pickaway shooting death

DARBYVILLE – A 21-year-old has been charged in the Monday night shooting death of his uncle in Pickaway County.

According to the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were dispatched at 7:40 p.m. Monday to 16814 Main St. in Darbyville in response to a 911 call from a neighbor concerning a man having been shot and killed.

When deputies arrived, they found Charles L. Huffer, 54, lying in the living room with the fatal gunshot wound to his head.

Pickaway County Sheriff Robert Radcliff told the Gazette late Tuesday morning that because of some discrepancies in accounts of what happened during the evening, authorities are still trying to piece together the sequence of events that led to Huffer's death.

"We're still looking at the investigation within the house to see if that matches up with what the suspect told us," Radcliff said. "There are things that raised some flags for us that we need to clarify before we come to the final conclusion, if we can, of what actually took place."

Investigators are also waiting for the results of an autopsy.

Authorities initially brought in Garret K. Gartin for questioning at the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office following the incident. Gartin was Huffer's nephew and he had been staying with his uncle in the house -- which belonged to his late mother -- for at least the last few days, Radcliff said.

Gartin was then taken into custody and charged with voluntary manslaughter and reckless homicide, in part based on a statement allegedly made to a neighbor after the shooting.

"(There was) his admission to the neighbor that he had just shot his uncle in the house," Radcliff said.

Gartin was arraigned Tuesday morning and his initial bond of $500,000 was continued, according to Radcliff.