Man faces manslaughter charge in death of longtime friend

A 22-year-old Harris County man accused of fatally shooting a longtime friend told authorities he didn’t know the gun was loaded when he picked it up while rapping, a prosecutor said during a weekend court hearing.

Eluid Rodriguez is charged with manslaughter in the shooting around 12:35 p.m. Friday at a home in the 10900 block of Tanwood Drive in the Willowbrook area

The death of 20-year-old Cole Spears was initially reported to authorities as a suicide, but deputies determined otherwise.

Several other friends were at the home when the gunfire erupted, a Harris County prosecutor said during Rodriguez’s probable cause hearing on Sunday. As deputies were questioning parents on Saturday, the prosecutor said, Rodriguez’s father brought him to the house.

In a later interview with investigators, Rodriguez said he was hanging out at the house with friends, including Cole, who he has known since elementary school, the prosecutor said.

Rodriguez was rapping when he picked up a 1911 Beretta that was on a table. Cole was sitting down at a table, across from Rodriguez.

The suspect told investigators he was swinging the gun around while rapping when he accidentally shot the gun, the prosecutor said. Rodriguez said he panicked when he saw blood come of the left side of Cole’s head, so he left the house.

Rodriguez said he did not mean to shoot his friend, but also said he didn’t check to see if the gun was loaded, the prosecutor said.

He is being held in the Harris County Jail with bond set at $50,000. In determining the bail, the judge at the probable cause hearing noted his past weapons charges, including deadly conduct, unlawful carrying weapons and theft of a firearm