Laura Ann Rains, 26, was shot in the head and died on January 6, 2014, at the Munford Brighton residence she shared with her husband. Her husband, William Christopher Rains, 25 at the time, told investigators the gun discharged while his wife was handing him a pistol; the initial call to the Tipton County Sheriff’s Office was for an accidental shooting. Laura was transported to a Memphis hospital where she later died.

William Rains was taken into custody after the shooting and released on a $50,000 bond. In July 2014 a Tipton County grand jury returned an indictment charging him with second-degree murder in connection with Laura’s death; he was awaiting trial later that year. The sequence from an accidental-shot report to a murder indictment is a central detail in this case.

Did anyone in Munford or the Munford Brighton area know the Rains family or witness events around January 6, 2014?