“WARNING GRAPHIC VIDEO 18+” Is This Self DefenSe Or No?
On November 5, Chad Read was fatally shot after he went to the home of his child’s mother for a custody exchange. Read’s wife Jennifer Read accompanied him but appeared to have remained in the car. When Chad Read discovered that his son was not at the home at the scheduled time for pickup, he began to argue with the boy’s mother Christina Read.
The exchange was captured on video and released this week by Jennifer’s attorney.
During the encounter in the front yard of the home, Christina Read reportedly told Chad Read that their son was not at her home, but that she would go get him. The video is not clear at some points, but the audible parts of the video indicate that the boy might have been at his maternal grandmother’s home. Also that Christina Read may have told the boy’s father to come back for him at 6 p.m.
“I don’t care if you wanted to see him or not,” Chad Read said at one point .”I get him at 3:15 p.m. If you want to see him, you see him up until 3:15. You keep trying to keep my son from me.”
The former couple shares two sons, ages 9 and 14, and it is unclear which son Chad Read was intending to pick up that day.
Christina Read’s boyfriend has been identified as Kyle Carruth. He emerged from the home with a rifle in his hand, telling Chad Read to get off his property.
“I’m glad this is on video, I’m very glad,” Carruth reportedly said, as the men stood close to each other, face to face with their chests touching. Neither man raised a hand to the other at the point, but Read reportedly dared Carruth to use his gun, saying “Do it! You better f*****g use it”.
That’s when Carruth fired the gun at Chad Read’s feet. The men struggled over the weapon and the argument became more physical, with Chad Read pushing Carruth away and Carruth stumbles backward. A woman presumed to be Jennifer Read repeatedly said “Call 911,” but it is unclear who she was addressing.
Carruth is then seen firing two shots at Chad Read, who dropped to the ground. No one, including Chad Read’s wife, immediately went to him as he lay collapsed on the ground, apparently unresponsive. Jennifer Read, still recording from her car, continued to say “call 911”.
Carruth told Jennifer Read that “none of you should be here,” and Jennifer Read said that Christina Read should have informed Chad Read that the boy was not at home at the scheduled pickup time. All during this conversation, Chad Read is lying, not moving, on the ground. The video goes black and it appears that Jennifer Read approached her husband, at which point she appeared to understand the gravity of the situation.
“You really did it!” she can be heard exclaiming before the video ends.
In the affidavit submitted on November 8, Anne Marie Carruth stated that she was “notified that my husband, William Kyle Carruth, is under investigation for the shooting and killing of his girlfriend’s children’s father after he attempted to pick up his children late Friday afternoon. My knowledge of the incident is very limited at this time and it is my understanding that the police are still investigating”.
The police reports classified Chad Read’s death as a homicide.