Anaheim Man Accused of Fatally Shooting Girlfriend After Argument

ANAHEIM — An Anaheim man was booked early Thursday on suspicion of fatally shooting his girlfriend after an argument, police said.

Mark R. Stephan, 33, is accused of shooting to death Melodie Ann Jones, 36, shortly before midnight Wednesday at his father’s house in the 1400 block of East Pinewood Avenue, Police Lt. Ray Welch said.

Homicide investigators, responding to a 911 call, found the woman on a bed in a rear bedroom with a gunshot wound to her head.

Stephan told investigators that he and his girlfriend had returned home shortly before the shooting.

“They got involved in an argument . . . which escalated when he obtained a handgun and pointed it at the victim,” Welch said.

Stephan told police that the gun went off when Jones attempted to wrestle it away from him, Welch said.

Homicide division Sgt. Chet Barry said investigators believe that Stephan had been drinking before the shooting.

Barry said the couple had been occupying a guest room in a house owned by Stephan’s father, Raymond Stephan.

The elder Stephan on Thursday called the shooting “an accidental situation,” saying that it “is very traumatic.”