By Shereen Siewert
The Schofield man accused of shooting a friend at a home on Wausau’s west side claims the shooting was accidental, according to statements made Monday in Marathon County Circuit Court.
Police were called at 3:07 p.m. Friday, June 7 to a home in the 300 block of N. Second Avenue for a report of a medical emergency, according to a Wausau Police Department news release. Upon arrival, they discovered 19-year-old Troy Wilcox upright in his bead, dead of a gunshot wound to the head.
Prosecutors say Wilcox was dead for hours before police were called to the scene.
Police say Wilcox was drinking with a group of friends at a party that extended into the early morning hours of the day he was found. Friends who were at the party told investigators David Anselmo, who turned 19 two days after the shooting, remained at Wilcox’s home after the rest of the party-goers left.
A video posted to Facebook and shared with Wausau Pilot and Review appears to show Wilcox and Anselmo drinking and playing beer pong together at about 4 a.m. with no one else in the room.
Anselmo initially told police that Wilcox was alive when he left the home in the early morning hours of June 7. But later, prosecutors say, Anselmo changed his story and allegedly told police he picked up a gun Wilcox had to see if there were any bullets in the gun, then pulled the trigger accidentally.
Wilcox was shot in the head, police said. The gun was recovered next to his body.
Anselmo, who is on extended supervision for a crime committed in Florida, is being held on a $500,000 cash bond. A court appearance is set for Thursday in Marathon County Circuit Court, where he is expected to face charges of second degree reckless homicide.
