Woman ‘playing' with new gun fatally shoots husband in face

A south suburban woman who claimed she accidentally shot her husband in the face as they were "playing" with a new gun in their kitchen faces felony charges for originally lying about the incident, according to police.

Desiree Cook called Calumet City police at 7:42 p.m. Wednesday and said her husband had been shot in the head by someone in the backyard of their home in the 300 block of Paxton Avenue in Calumet City, according to police.

Cook told police that her common law husband, Demetrius M. Marshall, staggered back inside after being shot and then collapsed in the kitchen, a release from police said.

Marshall, 41, was taken to Ingalls Memorial Hospital, where he died at 8:11 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. His death was ruled a homicide.

Cook, who had an outstanding warrant from Midlothian, originally made several inconsistent statements, but later confessed that it was she who shot Marshall as the two were "playing with a gun he recently purchased," police said.

She said she thought the gun was unloaded but it went off, striking him once in the face, police said. Cook also admitted hiding the gun and then making up the story about her husband being shot in the backyard to avoid getting into trouble.

She was charged with one count of concealment of a homicidal death, and one count of felony obstruction of justice, police said.

Bond was set at $10,000 for Cook Friday. She is next scheduled to appear in court March 6.