Clinton man charged in brother's death

CLINTON — A man accused of shooting and killing his brother Sunday night was charged Tuesday with manslaughter, a 2nd degree felony, by the Davis County Attorney's Office.

C.W. Larsen, 27, was allegedly shot and killed by his brother, 30-year-old Eric Larsen, at their home near 1600 North and 700 West. Larsen was to be arraigned Wednesday in 2nd District Court at 11 a.m.

The incident occurred Sunday at 1:38 a.m. The brothers were arguing in the basement of their house, said Clinton Police Chief Bill Chilson. Their mother, who was upstairs with their father, walked down to the basement and told them to stop, Chilson said. She then went back upstairs and a few minutes later heard a loud "boom."

She went back to the basement, where she found C.W. lying on the ground with blood coming from his head and Eric, who was very distraught, frantically trying to call 911, Chilson said.

A third brother was also in the basement when the shooting occurred, but it was unclear Tuesday whether he witnessed the incident.

Investigators believe alcohol played a role in the shooting. Chilson said Tuesday he didn't know what the men were arguing about prior to the single shot being fired.

"It's an unfortunate thing it happened at Christmastime," he said.

Chilson said the gun belonged to one of the men's friends. He didn't know why it was in the Larsen house that night.

Police have been called to the house before, but Chilson said that was a long time ago and there really haven't been any major problems there.

Prior to 2003, there hadn't been a murder in Clinton in 20 years. If this incident is ruled a homicide, it would be the second this year. That's in addition to another shooting incident that was ruled an attempted homicide after the victim miraculously lived despite being shot in the head.

Chilson said all he could attribute the sudden upswing in violence to was Clinton's growing population. With new businesses and new residents comes a less desirable element, he said.

"It's going to happen, unfortunately," Chilson said.

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