Driver in fatal shooting was not allowed to own gun - Wausau (WI) Daily Herald

By Meredith Thorn

STEVENS POINT -- The man who police say drove for three hours in a car with a man in the back seat who had shot himself made an initial court appearance Tuesday on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Stevens Point police stopped Adrian Facundo's car at about 12:30 p.m. July 5 after information received by the Portage County Sheriff's Department indicated the driver might be drunk, there was a passenger passed out in the back seat and they might have been headed to the hospital.

Experts determined that the passenger in the back seat, Travis Mills, a 27-year-old Almond man, died from an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Facundo, 46, of Almond was cited for operating while intoxicated and operating after license revocation, police said.

Facundo, who appeared Tuesday without his lawyer, told the judge that he has paranoid schizophrenia. The judge ordered his bond continued while Facundo's case plays out in court.

The criminal complaint states Facundo told police he was trying to get the passenger to the hospital because he was not feeling well. Facundo told investigators the passenger had shot himself in his car and that afterward, Facundo grabbed the gun and three bullets and tossed them into a ditch.

Facundo has previous convictions in Waushara County for possession of cocaine and bail jumping, according to the criminal complaint.