Navy chief fatally shoots husband as he calls 911, Florida cops say. ‘She just shot me’

A chief in the U.S. Navy accused of locking her husband in the garage and shooting him while he was on the phone with 911 has been convicted of a murder charge, according to Florida authorities.

Bree Kuhn, a 37-year-old mother of three, served in the U.S. Navy for 17 years and was a chief petty officer at Naval Air Station Pensacola at the time of her husband’s death, according to court documents and her attorneys.

One of Kuhn’s attorneys, Randy Etheridge, told McClatchy News over the phone that they had filed a notice of appeal. Kuhn’s legal team initially planned for her and a psychologist to testify at trial about battered spouse syndrome, but Kuhn decided not to after seeing a family member take the stand. The decision likely undermined her defense, but Etheridge said that was her choice.

Prosecutors said on Sept. 8, 2021, Kuhn and Collin Turner, a retired Marine, had been arguing because Turner said he wanted to leave and take their kids to Georgia, according to video of the court proceedings shared by Court TV on YouTube.

Law enforcement responded to their Gulf Breeze home multiple times that day because of the ongoing argument, prosecutors said.

Eventually, Turner called 911 from the garage and said Kuhn had locked him out there and wouldn’t let him come back in, deputies with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office said in an arrest affidavit obtained by McClatchy News.

A deputy who listened to the 911 call said Turner seemed “calm” and there was no sound of an altercation in the background. He started to say something, then a gunshot could be heard in the background, and the dispatcher asked what that was, per the arrest report.

Turner reportedly responded, “She just shot me.”

Then three more gunshots rang out in the recording and Turner went silent on the other end of the line, investigators said.

When deputies arrived, they said they found Turner with four gunshot wounds, and Kuhn said she had shot him.

Kuhn’s attorneys in court said Turner abused Kuhn and she was concerned he was going to kill the kids if he took them.

“As we go through this testimony, think to yourself, what kind of person calls the police out to their house if they’re going to commit a premeditated murder,” Etheridge told the jury.

But deputies said Turner was “no danger” to his wife while locked in the garage at the time she’s accused of shooting him.

A jury found her guilty of first-degree premeditated murder, and she was sentenced to life in prison Sept. 27, Santa Rosa County records show.

Turner’s parents spoke about losing their son and raising the three kids left behind during the trial broadcast by Court TV.

“He loved his children, retiring from the Marines early so he wouldn’t miss any part of their young lives,” said his mother, Tere Turner. “And now he’s not there for them at all due to Bree’s actions.”

His father was emotional when he called Turner “a loving son, brother, father, grandson, friend and leader.”

This story was originally published September 30, 2024 at 3:27 PM.