The daughter of accused murderer Charles “Frankie” McCluskey says her dad was only trying to protect his family from an angry man trying to run down his family when he shot him March 4, west of Athens.

McCluskey, 43, is charged in the fatal shooting of 41-year-old Ronnie Kyle Jr. of Athens. McCluskey admitted firing a shotgun into the windshield of Kyle’s car, striking him in the chest and hand, after Kyle came to the home demanding to see his girlfriend, who once was McCluskey’s wife.

Brittney McCluskey, 23, asked The News Courier this week to let her explain what she saw the night of the shooting. She and her 16-year-old sister, Cheyenne McCluskey, and their 13-year-old brother, Charlie McCluskey, were all living with their dad at his mobile home at 16601 Zehner Road. Although Brittney had lived with her mother and Kyle, she had moved in with her dad two months before the shooting because Kyle, who had been in jail, had been released, she said.

“My dad has pretty much always taken care of us,” Brittney said. “If I had to stay with my momma with Ronnie, it was pretty much a have-to situation.”

She said her mother was trying to leave Kyle the day the shooting occurred. Brittney said she had driven her mother to the doctor that day and, when they returned, they saw Kyle was not at home. Brittney said she helped her mother pack her possessions and then they drove to the home of Brittney’s aunt, Donna Hill.

Unexpected

Earlier that evening, Brittney said her mother had called to warn Cheyenne, who is eight-months pregnant.

“Momma told her Ronnie might come over there, so watch out,” Brittney said. “We didn’t think he would come over there. We were all relaxed and in the living room watching my little brother play the PlayStation. Then we saw the headlights so we all went to the window to look outside. I remember my daddy’s exact words, he said, ‘I can’t believe he’s here.’”

They were all surprised to see Kyle.

“I don’t know why Ronnie would think my momma would be at my dad’s house,” Brittney said. “They had been separated for 11 or 12 years. My dad cares about my momma but they would never be back together.”

Confrontation

McCluskey, Brittney, young Charlie, Cheyenne and her boyfriend put on their tennis shoes and went outside, Brittney said. The mother of Cheyenne’s boyfriend, who was also at the home that night, remained indoors, she said. Kyle had pulled up into a muddy space near the house, opened his car door and was calling for Brittney’s mother, whom Ronnie called “Red.”

“Ronnie said, ‘You better tell that (expletive deleted) to get out here,’” Brittney recalled.

“My daddy told him, ‘Man, she’s not here, you better leave,’” Brittney said.

“He did not come out of the house with a shotgun to begin with,” Brittney said. “He told Ronnie to leave.”

Although McCluskey told everyone to get back in the house, Brittney said they all disobeyed.

“Me and my sister and brother knew Ronnie how was and that he was a roofer,” she said. “My daddy is an older man and he has laid carpet and flooring all his life and his knees and his back are messed up. We knew he couldn’t fight Ronnie. He would hurt my daddy.”

From the car

Brittney said Kyle was seated in his car with the car door open yelling at the family and threatening to kill all of them.

“My dad told him to leave several times, and Ronnie shut the door and acted like he was going to leave,” she said. “He backed out, then he comes charging towards us with the car, so we all jumped to the side the first time.”

She said her father again told Kyle to leave, but instead Kyle opened the car door and started cussing and threatening them again.

“He was saying he would kill us all and he was saying he knows Red’s here,” Brittney said. “Momma was not there. Her car wasn’t even there. He should have seen that.”

The gun

Brittney said her father then entered the house and came back outside with the single-barrel, 20-gauge shotgun her brother uses for hunting.

“He came outside and he let Ronnie see the gun,” Brittney said. “He showed Ronnie he had the gun and Ronnie still sat there cussing us.”

She said her dad again told Kyle to leave.

“Ronnie backed out like he was gonna leave and then came running toward us again with the car,” Brittney said. “Me and my brother and sister jumped to the side, and Ronnie actually hit my dad with the car. My dad had to jump up on top of the hood and that’s when the gun went off. His knees and hands were on the hood. I don’t know if my daddy actually shot him on purpose or if the gun went off. I’m not sure of that, but I know my daddy did shoot.”

Mortally wounded

Brittney said Kyle backed out and was driving away when his car scraped the side of a tree. (The tree was roughly 150 yards from the home, according to the deputy’s report.)

“When I saw him hit that tree, I knew daddy had shot him,” Brittney said. “I ran toward the car, and Ronnie ends up like in the ditch and his car gets stuck. I opened up the car door and Ronnie was practically lying in the floor, and I saw blood and everything. I pulled Ronnie up and I was trying to get him to talk to me. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t see any big holes; all I saw were little, bitty splatters of blood. He wasn’t saying nothing, but he was acting like he was choking, trying to get air. I didn’t know what to do but I stood there the whole time.”

911

Both Brittney and Cheyenne telephone 911, she said.

After the call was received about 7:24 p.m., Limestone County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the scene along with emergency medical personnel. Kyle was taken to Huntsville Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

Aftermath

Brittney believes her dad acted in defense of himself and his family.

“My daddy did not come out with that gun to begin with,” she said. “He is a good person. He wouldn’t want to hurt anybody. I guess he felt like he had no choice that night.”

Sheriff Mike Blakely does not believe McCluskey had no other choice than to shoot Kyle. He believes McCluskey should have called the Sheriff’s Office and let deputies handle the matter.

“Then Kyle wouldn’t be dead and McCluskey wouldn’t be in jail,” Blakely said.

Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones expects McCluskey’s attorney, when one is appointed, to use the state’s 2006 stand-your-ground law as a defense in McCluskey’s murder case. Blakely said he believes McCluskey could end up facing manslaughter.

Brittney, through tears, said she hoped her dad would not have to go to prison at all. But, if he does, she hopes it will not be for long.

“My daddy was the only one I could depend on,” she said.

McCluskey remained in the Limestone County Jail Saturday, with bail set at $30,000. Brittney’s aunt is trying to raise the money to pay a bail bonding company to free him.