Phelps reportedly told investigators his mother had pushed his sister over a reclining chair, before he intervened.

“His mother then turned and tried to choke him,” Fleet said.

Phelps and his sister had stepped outside, Fleet told the court, ready to leave when their mother called out.

“The mother came to the doorway and said, ‘You better take your dogs or I’m going to kill them,” the prosecutor said.

They returned inside, Phelps going into his bedroom when he heard the fighting resume between his mother and sister.

“He said the next thing he knew he heard a bang. He realized he had a gun in his hand and dropped it,” Fleet said. “The defendant was less 10 feet away. She never saw it coming.”

Phelps’ attorney said Phelps did not know the gun had gone off and told the judge this case yielded “more to it than meets the eye.”

“This is not a cut-and-dry situation,” Lawson said.

With the evidence read, the attorneys then disputed whether Phelps should be released until his January trial.