JEFFERSON COUNTY • A woman accidentally shot her husband to death after picking up a gun she didn’t know was loaded, the sheriff’s office said Monday.

David Utz, 43, and his wife had friends over Saturday evening and the group was looking at guns, said Capt. Ron Arnhart.

The woman, 29, left the room, and while she was gone, Utz picked up a gun and loaded it before setting it down again.

His wife returned to the room and picked up the gun, not realizing it was loaded, and somehow fired a single shot into her husband’s chest, Arnhart said.

It happened about 10 p.m. in the 2000 block of Treybrook Court in the Imperial area.

“It does appear to be a horrible accident,” Arnhart said.

Authorities did not release the wife’s name.

Investigators are compiling a report that will be presented to the Jefferson County prosecutor’s office to determine whether charges will be filed.

A pair of deaths in separate incidents over the summer in the county resulted in charges of involuntary manslaughter against two people who said they never intended to shoot their victims.