The victim of a Monday night shooting in Wood County has been identified as 47-year-old Theresa Coates. Sherff’s Captain Quentin Ellis said Coates was shot by her daughter’s boyfriend, 17-year-old Miguel Oertel. The teen then turned the gun on himself and remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition. Ellis said he was told Oertel’s injuries are not life-threatening.
Just hours before the shooting, Oertel and Theresa Coates’ 17-year-old daughter had pleaded no contest to stealing Coates’ car in January, turning up two days later in Nebraska. The teens agreed to a plea deal that found them guilty of disorderly conduct, and each were ordered to pay fines of 829-dollars. Ellis said any link between that case and Coates’ murder would be “speculative.”
“I can comment on the facts that we’ve established from this case, and while two 17-year-olds may have had an interaction in court, to say that the two are related would be speculative at this point.”
The shooting that killed Theresa Coates happened about 10 p.m. Monday at a residence in the Town of Saratoga following a disturbance. Ellis said Oertel, who’s under guard in the hospital, has not been interviewed, and so no motive for the shooting has been established.
WDLB
