SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A former reserve deputy has been charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of his wife last year.

The Spokesman-Review reported Friday that Dwayne Thurman was charged June 29 and is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.

The former reserve deputy with Lincoln County told investigators that he was cleaning his wife Brenda's gun at their home in Spokane Valley when it went off accidentally Jan. 16, 2016. She died of a single gunshot wound to the chest.

Dwayne Thurman also told investigators the gun had been malfunctioning and he thought it was unloaded.

Court documents say a forensic expert who examined the gun said he found it to "function reliably" and it "did not have any malfunctions."

Thurman's attorney Carl Oreskovich says he doesn't believe Thurman should be charged with anything, calling the incident a tragic accident.

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