Florida pastor 'accidentally' shoots wife while cleaning gun

Pastor Darrell Reid called the police at 8 p.m. Monday, June 6 to report that he had accidentally shot his wife in the head while he was cleaning his gun. However, according to local media sources, records of the pastor's past reveal a history of violence, although it is uncertain whether that alleged past had anything to do with the tragic death of his wife in this case.

According to Orlando Sentinel, spokesman for the Sheriff's Office Travis Mackey stated that Orange County deputies were called in the Zellwood home on Winifred Avenue near the Orange-Lake County line following the 63-year-old pastor's report that he accidentally shot his 62-year-old wife Katie Reid in the head.

Katie was taken to Florida Hospital Apopka where she succumbed to the fatal gunshot wound. Although no charges nor arrest were taken against the husband, Mackey said that the incident is currently treated as a death investigation.

An unnamed source who claimed to be a close family friend revealed to News 6 that the couple's relationship had been violent. Criminal records also allegedly show that deputies have been called to the house at least 23 times in the past three years. Darell allegedly has a criminal history with several arrests for violent offenses. The latest of these arrests was in 2014 for charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

Chris Pennington, who served as Darell's attorney for his 2014 case, described the couple's relationship as a "loving marriage."

"They seemed very close," Pennington told Orlando Sentinel. "They always came to court together. It's very tragic."

Kevin Ellis, the couple's neighbor, does not suspect Darrell.

"I couldn't see that coming from Darrell," Ellis shared, adding that he feels bad for his friend whom he's known for about five years.

Ellis attested, "He doesn't have any mean tendencies. He's a really nice guy."

The couple served as pastors to the ministry they founded together, "Happy Hills Ministries."

"We met when we were just 12 years old prior to our going to junior high school together at Apopka Memorial High in 1965. We became 'Bestest Friends' and finally were married in May of 1980. She knew long before I did that God had put us together," read a statement that Darell wrote on their ministry's website.