Evidence contradicts woman’s story of boyfriend’s shooting death

A 54-year-old woman arrested after her boyfriend was shot to death on their northwest valley driveway Feb. 10 told police she thought he was going to shoot her, her arrest report said.

According to the report, evidence at the scene told a different story.

Catherine Brewington and Aaron Matthews had been dating about four years and living together at 4740 Sweeping Glen St. for a year when Matthews was shot in the back on the couple's driveway about 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10, according to her arrest report.

Brewington had planned to move to Reno two days later, but was trying to pack up and leave that night because she and her boyfriend had been arguing, she told police.

After Matthews tried to strangle her and pulled her hair during a fight, Brewington tried to find a handgun but it wasn't in its normal place, so she assumed Matthews had it.

She was loading her animals into her truck when Matthews confronted her in the driveway and reached for his waistband. That's when she shot him in the chest with a shotgun, she told police.

It was unclear when she grabbed the shotgun, police wrote in her arrest report.

A neighbor who had been taking out her trash at the time of the shooting told detectives Brewington and Matthews were standing about 3 feet apart on the truck's driver's side when Brewington fired the shotgun.

"There was no fighting or yelling and it was quiet outside," the neighbor told police.

The neighbor and Brewington told police the couple were facing each other on the driveway, but police found Matthews lying on his side with a large gunshot wound to the right side of his back.

"The physical evidence recovered at the scene directly contradicted Brewington's statement to patrol officers that she shot Matthews in the chest as he faced her and reached for his waistband," detectives wrote in the arrest report.

Police found two shotguns and $2,700 in cash strewn on the garage's floor, the arrest report said.

Brewington was arrested and booked into the Clark County Detention Center where she faces a charge of open murder with a deadly weapon.

Contact Kimber Laux at klaux@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @lauxkimber