VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A preliminary hearing was held Tuesday for Jennifer Mulligan, who is accused of shooting and killing her 90-year-old father inside their Virginia Beach home in May.
Mulligan, 43, is charged with first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the death of Woodward McClure. The two lived together in their home on Rodney Lane in Virginia Beach.
On the morning of May 7, Virginia Beach police responded to a call made by Mulligan, who told dispatchers, "I shot my dad."
During Tuesday's hearing at Virginia Beach Court, the 911 call was played in the courtroom. In the recording, Mulligan can be heard confessing to the dispatcher.
Watch previous coverage: Court docs say woman shot 90-year-old father in the head in Virginia Beach home
When asked if she shot her father on purpose or if it was an accident, she said it was on purpose. When asked why, Mulligan alluded to past abuse from her father.
"But sufficient to say, Jenny has gone through some very difficult times throughout her life, related obviously to her father and other men," said Roger Whitus, Mulligan's attorney.
Whitus provided additional context about the family dynamics.
"As we talked about in court, there were issues with just general day-to-day interactions with him, mostly just the way he would treat her and her family and their dogs and other people that they dealt with," Whitus said. "Issues with cleanliness, and then, like I said, I suspect at the end of the day, some of the long-standing issues involving abuse that were alluded to in court, were coming up to the surface.”
Watch related: Daughter shoots, kills 90-year-old father in Virginia Beach home on Rodney Lane: VBPD
A Virginia Beach police officer and detective testified as witnesses during the hearing. They said when they arrived at the scene, McClure was found dead in his bed with a gunshot wound to his forehead.
When the detective asked Mulligan why she shot her father, she said, "I did what I had to do to take care of the agony."
Mulligan's husband, son and other family members attended the hearing. Neighbors expressed shock when the incident first occurred in May.
"That poor family. I just, that's the first thing I think of, is that, everything that poor family is going through," said Val Comstock, a Virginia Beach neighbor.
Following Tuesday's preliminary hearing, Mulligan's case will go to a higher court, where she will enter a plea of either guilty or not guilty.
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