People v. Stoot CA4/1

I. INTRODUCTION

A jury convicted Celestine John Stoot of first degree murder with personal use of a firearm, felony child endangerment, and possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon. Stoot seeks reversal of the murder and child endangerment counts, claiming the trial court failed to instruct the jury properly on lesser included offenses. Finding no error on the murder count and harmless error on the child endangerment count, we affirm.

II. BACKGROUND

In the summer of 2021, Stoot and Natasha Barlow were in a relationship. They had a child together, then two-year-old John Doe. During their relationship, Stoot would threaten Barlow with violence, like maiming her with a chainsaw, burning down her house while she was inside, and shooting her. Primarily due to these repeated threats, Barlow wanted to end the relationship with Stoot. On July 4, 2021, Stoot shot Barlow to death in his small two-bedroom house. A single round fatally pierced Barlow’s neck and came to rest in the adjoining bedroom, very close to a child’s bed. That neighboring room is

where Stoot’s young children stayed when visiting.1 As a result of their investigation, the police concluded that a struggle…