Springfield man killed his fiancee. He wishes there hadn't been a gun at home.

As a felon, he could not own a gun, but she kept her pistol in an unlocked drawer of their bedroom nightstand.

They had been arguing about money.

He said he was struggling with mental illness.

Shawn Turner fatally shot his fiancee, 31-year-old Kristi Spurlock, in their Springfield home in January 2017.

Turner, 40, spoke to the News-Leader on Wednesday from prison. He took a plea deal earlier this year.

Turner said he regrets killing his fiancee and taking her away from her family.

What could have prevented her death?

Turner said he wished the gun had not been in the house.

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In domestic violence cases like these, experts say, access to firearms increases the risk of homicide as much as five-fold.

Michael Siegel, an expert on firearm violence, said women who buy guns for protection could actually be putting themselves in danger.

Siegel was one of the authors of a 2017 study about intimate partner homicide published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The study said more than 1,500 women are killed by an intimate partner every year, and about half those homicides were committed with a firearm.

Siegel, a professor at Boston University's School of Public Health, said there's a misinformation problem about guns and protection.

"One of the things that the (National Rifle Association) is pushing is, they're actually trying to get women to buy guns to protect themselves," Siegel said.

According to Siegel, a gun in a household will more likely be used to injure or kill someone in that household than for self-defense.

The study by Siegel and his fellow researchers focused on domestic abusers' access to firearms.

Many states have laws banning people who have committed felony and misdemeanor domestic assault from owning guns, Siegel said, but these laws appear to have very little effect on the rate of intimate partner homicide.

Some states have also decided to remove firearms from the situation by force of law, and Siegel said those states have seen a significant decrease in intimate partner homicide.

Missouri does not have such a law.

The study found that in 2015, Missouri had the seventh-highest rate of firearm-related intimate partner homicide of any state.

State lawmakers passed a bill in 2016 that removed the requirement for obtaining a permit to carry a concealed firearm — and also made it easier for domestic abusers with records to own firearms.

Legislators are working to address this loophole, but a bill to do so hasn’t moved in three weeks. The bill would address people who have been served orders of protection as well as increase punishments for some domestic abusers.

Turner said he does not have a history of domestic violence. He said he had an assault conviction in Texas when he attacked a police officer with the officer's baton.

Turner said the police officer was responding to a domestic situation between him and his partner at the time.

He said he came to Springfield about 12 years ago and met Spurlock after she posted a personal ad to Craigslist.com.

They just clicked, Turner said, and had plans to open a leatherworking business.

He would make the boots, wallets and other leather goods, and she would handle the paperwork.

Her dad had sold some land in Louisiana, Turner said, and they used the money to buy a car and a house on West Whiteside Street in a quiet neighborhood of Springfield.

According to Turner, Spurlock also bought a $500 purse, which he thought was not a good use of money.

Their wedding was planned and paid for, Turner said, but they continued to argue about money and budgeting.

One day in January 2017, it boiled over.

Turner said he suffers from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

"I was having an episode, and me and my girlfriend was fighting. I thought she was trying to attack me," Turner said. "What I saw was her coming at me with a knife."

"I pulled the gun out of the top drawer of the nightstand. And I spun around without even thinking and I started shooting."

Spurlock, who was across the room, collapsed.

She was not carrying a knife.

When Turner realized what he did, he turned the gun on himself.

The shot didn't kill him, but it did go through his right eye, which is now permanently blind.

Hours later he woke up, showered, and returned to his fiancee's body.

Turner said her phone was ringing, so he answered it.

It was her mom, Turner said, and he told her what happened and to call 911.

Police arrived and shut down the street and, after a brief standoff, arrested Turner on Jan. 11, 2017.

He was charged with first-degree murder, but as trial approached, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Turner said Spurlock was "loving, caring, had a giant heart."

"She was everything that I wasn't," Turner said.

When asked about killing Spurlock, Turner said he thinks about it every day.

"It's a loss of life that shouldn't have happened," he said. "I miss her all the time — every day."

Turner said he also regrets taking Spurlock away from her family and wanted them to know that.

"I know it won't make up for it," Turner said. "But I'm sorry."

The News-Leader asked Turner if he had any advice for other couples who might be fighting.

"Lose the gun," he said. "And seek help."

Will Schmitt contributed to this report.