WILKES-BARRE — When Brittney Reynolds was found face down on her bed with her head covered by a bullet-pierced pillow, her fledgling boyfriend initially told police he had last seen her alive and well.

But in court Tuesday, prosecutors revealed Zien N. Council, 18, of Philadelphia, later provided a more sordid account of events — a version that ended with Reynolds killed while “play fighting” during foreplay to sex.

“It started with him saying, ‘Believe it or not, it was an accident,’” Wilkes-Barre police Detective David Sobocinski testified about Council’s second statement to police.

According to prosecutors, Reynolds and Council met at Red Rock Job Corps Center in Sullivan County, where she worked and he was a student prior to being kicked out for fighting in December.

Prosecutors said Reynolds, 26, picked up Council in Philadelphia on Dec. 17 and brought him back to Wilkes-Barre. On the way, they stopped by a Turkey Hill Minit Market to pick up some condoms before making their way to the bedroom of Reynolds’ Matson Avenue apartment, prosecutors said.

At some point, Reynolds pulled out a teal-colored .380 caliber Ruger pistol she had purchased for self protection, Sobocinski said. “He states she picked up the gun, and things became sexual."

Reynolds put down the gun and began getting undressed, at which point Council picked it up, according to the testimony.

In court, Sobocinski testified Council told him that he knew the pistol had a round in the chamber. However, the complaint says Council said he did not know it was loaded.

“He pulled the trigger,” Sobocinski said. “He shot her, but it was an accident.”

The detective described Council as “cold-hearted” and “unremorseful” while making his statement.

Reynolds’ body was found several days later after her mother reported her missing. Wilkes-Barre police Officer David Balchun testified he found her on the bed, naked from the waist down, with her head covered by a pillow that had a bullet hole. A shell casing had fallen onto a woman’s boot near the bed, he said.

Reynolds’ Toyota sedan and the pistol were missing.

The discovery set off a massive manhunt for Council, who was seen in Snapchat texts with Reynolds earlier the day she died. He later was found with her pistol, Luzerne County Detective James Noone said.

Defense attorney Joseph Yeager argued that Council should not be charged with criminal homicide.

But Assistant District Attorney Jarrett J. Ferentino argued Council did not act like a person who’d had an accident.

“It’s been Council’s claim that it was an accident. He said, ‘Believe it or not.’ We choose not,” Ferentino said.

Council was ordered to stand trial. He is being held without bail at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility.

By James Halpin, The Citizens’ Voice, Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (TNS)