A severely disabled Mohave Valley man pleaded guilty July 3 in the shooting death of his girlfriend of eight years. There is no dispute that 29-year-old James Manker killed 56-year-old Tina Stimmell, but Manker told the Court that he had difficulty pleading guilty to second degree murder for what he believes was a mercy killing.
“So much of me wants to plead not guilty because I don’t feel like it was murder. It was assisted suicide,” said Manker, who maintains Stimmell was suffering from stage 4 kidney failure. “I put her out of her misery as I see it. I put her out of her pain.”
Mohave County Sheriff’s deputies responded on January 29 to the home that Manker and Stimmell shared in the 9900 block of South Needles Drive. A probable cause statement indicated that Manker’s speech was slurred when he called dispatch to report that he had taken medication and drank vodka after killing Stimmell.
Deputies found Stimmell dead in a reclining chair of the living room. Manker admits placing a pillow to her head while she slept before firing three rounds from a .38 Special.
Deputies located the shot-singed pillow and the bullet casings at the crime scene, and the gun in a bedroom.
Defense attorney Robin Puchek asked Mohave County Superior Court Judge Derek Carlisle to take notice as the barely ambulatory defendant, with use of a walker, struggled across the court room. Puchek said Manker suffered traumatic brain injury and physical disability in a traffic accident about a decade ago.
Carlisle granted Puchek’s request that Manker undergo a mental health evaluation so the Court can be better informed of his psychological and physical condition before an August 16 sentencing hearing. There’s a 10-16 year prison punishment window under terms of the plea agreement.
