Police said Wendell Wilson told them it "comes down to a dominance thing," and that he didn't want his daughter to have the last word in the argument.

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A Washington state man is due to face court next week, charged with shooting and killing his daughter in front of her young son earlier this month amid a "petty argument" about installing a baby gate.

Wendell Wilson, 68, was charged with the murder of his daughter, Lila Wilson, 38, which occurred in the home they shared in Renton, south of Seattle, on June 10, according to court records. "The victim's toddler was mere feet away" when she was shot, the prosecuting attorney said. The father allegedly shot his daughter "six times, including twice to the head," while her toddler "was mere feet away." He then called 911 afterward, telling the dispatcher, "I need social services for a baby because I just killed her mom, the baby's mother." The public defender assigned to Wilson's case declined to comment on it to BuzzFeed News.

Renton - this is one of your police officers. Be proud. Should anything happen, they’ll treat your loved one like their own. @RentonpdWA @komonews

At the scene, Wilson was said to have told police he and his daughter "got into an argument about putting a gate up in the kitchen to block the baby because he is mobile." He said it wouldn't work, and they began arguing. They "got in each other's face" after she threatened to move out and slammed a door on his face, the suspect told police. After that, "I went and I got my gun and shot her," he allegedly said, admitting that he did intend to kill her. However, in later questioning, Wilson expressed uncertainty as to whether he meant to kill his daughter, hurt her, or scare her. Wilson said his daughter tended to "escalate" things into arguments, and that this time it "got out of hand."

When asked why he pulled a gun on her, Wilson said it "comes down to a dominance thing," and that he didn't want her to have the last word in the argument. Gay Horton, Wilson's ex-wife and the victim's adopted mother, told police Wilson called her right before the shooting, said, "I'm gonna kill Lila," and hung up. Upon calling him back a minute later, Wilson told her, "I shot her, I killed her."

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