ATLANTA _ Atlanta attorney Claud "Tex" McIver was charged Wednesday with involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct in the shooting death of his wife, businesswoman Diane McIver, Atlanta police said.
McIver shot his wife in the back as the couple rode in their SUV near Piedmont Park, late on the night of Sept. 25. He was in the back seat and she in the front when his .38-caliber revolver discharged. She died later that night at the hospital.
McIver has said the shooting was an accident. Atlanta police have been investigating for the better part of three months.
The involuntary manslaughter charge is a felony, police said. The reckless conduct charge is a misdemeanor.
"This has completely destroyed his life," John "Spike" McIver, Tex's brother, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Wednesday. "This was his life mate. They were inseparable. This was a horrible accident."
Spike McIver said his brother called him Tuesday night to say that he'd heard the warrants were being issued and that he was trying to arrange for booking at the jail.
"He's very depressed about it," McIver said of his brother. "He keeps getting hit over and over from one direction and another. ... He's upset that this is occurring on Christmas week. They could've waited, but they work in strange ways."
McIver's attorney, Steve Maples, told the AJC that the charges don't make sense to him.
"We're very, very disappointed," Maples said. "We feel it was an accident. Hopefully the grand jury would dismiss it when they hear the evidence.
"He was not doing anything in a reckless or negligent manner."
He described his client as "very, very embarrassed and very, very humiliated" by the charges. "Tex said this was the second worst day of his life," Maples said.
He also noted that neither of the charges suggest that McIver had any malice toward his wife nor intent to cause her harm.
Channel 2 Action News reported that McIver has until 8 p.m. to turn himself in.
Andrew Ward, a longtime friend of McIver's, said Wednesday that the couple adored each other."
This was a tragic accident. If it has to go through court to prove that, so be it," said Ward, who has known McIver for more than a decade. "He meant no harm to Diane. ... I would not hesitate to be a witness in court to support their wonderful relationship."
Thursday will be McIver's 74th birthday, his lawyer said.
