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Updated: Man, 72, Charged With Shotgun Slaying Of His 64-Year Old Companion In McDavid
March 23, 2022
A 72-year old man was charged with the shotgun slaying of a 64-year old woman in McDavid Tuesday night.
Frankie Milton Wilson was charged with the second degree murder of Sonja Burch.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said the shooting happened at the couple’s home on Worley Road off Mystic Springs Road where they lived together as a couple but were not married. Burch was pronounced deceased with a single gunshot wound to the chest.
ECSO deputies arrived to find Burch deceased in the kitchen of the home and Wilson standing outside.
Wilson asked deputies to look at injuries to him caused by the victim. He showed deputies an obviously old superficial scratch on his stomach and another superficial scratch on his left arm, which was bandaged and blooded. He told deputies that the two injuries were from being attacked by Burch with a butter knife in the past couple of days.
A search warrant was executed at the home. Deputies recovered a .410 shotgun from Wilson’s room but did not locate a butter knife neartBurch.
“Due to not locating the alleged butter knife, it is reasonable to believe that (the victim) was unarmed at the time she was shot by Frank Wilson,” the report states.
Wilson made statements indicating that he “snapped” and shot the victim out of anger and complications with his blood pressure, according to the report.
Comments
32 Responses to “Updated: Man, 72, Charged With Shotgun Slaying Of His 64-Year Old Companion In McDavid”
I lived with her and her ex husband and son Jay me and him dated for the longest and she was a very nice person and I hope that you get what’s coming for you
How sad. She was a dear friend. I hope he pays for this.
Coward…..how come if those aleeged scratches happened over a few days he didnt walk away before that. And a butter knife. Really…..he could have done different than to shoot her. And for them to not find a knife around her……that was murder……i pray he does not get a slap on the wrist for this. So sad.
I have known buddy my whole life even new his parents and he is a outstanding man who loves to help people if you asked him for help he was there outstanding man in our community and I will be a character witness for him if need be an he is not a killer something triggered the situation
Coward! He didn’t think about her well being just shoot to kill.
@JoLLillis I’m so sorry for the loss of your sister. This is a terrible tragedy for you. God give you strength.
@Shay…glad you were able to get out of your situation but not all situations are comparable to yours…to another. I don’t know either of these individuals and none of can speculate as to what actually happened inside that home. I understand, completely, PTSD. Some can overcome it and some allow it to beat you down. There’s no excuse for any type of abuse towards another person. I’ve seen it from both man/woman and it’s sad to witness. I pray for this young ladies family and I pray for this gentleman accused of this crime. Yes, we can all say “he should of walked away”…when a person has been in such a sad environment they don’t even think that far…sad sad sad situation right here
@ KARMA
Unfortunately I have walked in the very same shoes that this man has. I did it for 11 years until my abuser decided to start physically abusing my children. Never in the 11 years did I think that murder was the answer. Suicide perhaps but never murder. My ex husband had several guns in the home.
As a woman who was verbally and physically abused I can tell you that there are always options and murder isn’t the answer. You have to ask yourself if staying is worth it. In my case it took an ER visit with suicidal ideations to figure that out. Did I want to stay in the horrible situation or stay. I went home, packed a bag for myself and my two young children and went to a battered woman’s shelter. I never looked back.
I say again, there are always options. They may not be the easiest but they are options none the less.
I don’t pretend to know what the dynamic was between this man and the woman he murdered(allegedly) but I will say he had other options than to shoot and kill her.
This is a very sad situation, men do get abused by women too and it happens more in the elderly individuals than you think, that’s what people don’t understand. A butter knife or a stick, anything is a weapon and I am sure this isn’t the first time she’s abused him and he had a breaking point, someone can only take so much, and no one has walked a day in his shoes to know what he has had to deal with. Your saying he could have just walked away, sometimes it’s easier said than done when you have never been in an abusive relationship. I don’t condone what he did but that may have been the only way to get out of it. You don’t know until you knew what he dealt with on a daily basis. From what I’ve read he seemed to be a pillar of the community, now that same community needs to stand behind him, because he needs someone on his side right now. Let that sink in.
@WOW I totally agree with you except in this case the offender is 72 and lived in the good ol’ days so she should know better.
Btw, “snapping under pressure” could be used to excuse pretty much any kind of heinous crime! PTSD is now a demon that we can blame all our wickedness on. God does not send conditions, diseases, or disorders to hell. He sends people there who have rebelled against Him.
These millennials are out of control. Back in the good old days, people knew better. These young people these days just can’t solve their probably normally. Am I right?
@william and @paul I totally agree
As a paramedic, I can tell you that murdering someone is not a side effect from blood pressure issues. He showed the leo’s old wounds and said they were the reasoning for him killing her. I’d say this man thought about this for a minute before he actually killed her. If he had time to plan this he had time to call L.E or leave the home till things calmed down.
@Michelle “Buddy” could’ve walked away. He had other options than picking up a shotgun and killing his companion, in what was apparently cold blood. I think “shotgun slaying” is an accurate description since he shot his companion in the chest with a SHOTGUN! He didn’t suffocate her in her sleep or drug her while she slept. He shot her in the chest with a flipping shotgun. It doesn’t get an more personal than that.
My heart is broken for this was my baby sister who’s life was taken.
I can’t and won’t point blame,it was a horrible and tragic killing.
Also to those that are saying “don’t say he’s a good man” or “hope he pays for what he did”, maybe you should get to know that person before u say something, buddy has done a lot for the McDavid community, when I didn’t know how to fix something on my truck buddy always offered to help and he taught me some things I never knew, when buddy offered to help u with something he wasn’t asking for money, I have tried to pay him countless times for helping me with things but he wouldn’t accept payment, he did it because he felt like it was the write thing to do, people have breaking points and when they are being physically hurt and have no one to turn to, when they get tired of it they will snap, but buddy has served our country for what I’ve been told, he’s never talked about what he went through but he may suffer from thing our veterans deal with today which is ptsd, and with that women stabbing him he may have gotten triggered and did what he did not on purpose but on accident, prayers for him right now
I’ve lived across the street from Buddy for 12 years, he was a good guy and always loved the company, not many people know about buddies past especially with him being in a war, what I heard is he was stabbed with a butter knife and with that happening could’ve caused ptsd, buddy was a great guy
No matter how hard some “Try” to justify his actions at the end of the day he’s just another killer. Call the cops, walk away. There are many options better than taking a life.
Breaking point it said some of the wounds were older so why not pick up the phone and call the law .
MIchelle wrote <<< – I also feel like “shotgun slaying” is a bit over the top
Ah, bur she was slayed with a shotgun blast to the chest.
You would prefer a SNOWFLAKE headline?
"Really Nice Lady, 65, Is In A Better Place After She Is Injured By A Big Bad Shotgun"
.
Everyone has a breaking point? Really? That’s the conclusion you came to? Based on what? How do you know that they were even arguing, she could have been cooking his breakfast unaware of what was about to happen. She allegedly scratched him with a butter knife ( you do understand it’s not a real knife, it’s for spreading butter ), yet there was no butter knife found. I believe he made that up as an excuse (albeit a seriously lame one) as to why he blew a hole through her chest with a shotgun. I think it’s sad that anyone would try to justify such a heinous execution of an unarmed person.
I find it hard to read some of these comments amd how judgemental they are. It is most definitely a sad situation that Buddy had to resort to the measure that he did to protect himself. As many people will agree with me, this situation had not been just about this single incident. There is much from the past that I know without a doubt led him to feel as if this was the only way he could save his own life. I’m not judging the person who lost their life, it is a terrible situation for both sides. I also feel like “shotgun slaying” is a bit over the top. It’s always surprising to see what people say when they don’t know the full story. I am sure this comment will generate many more but it needed to be said and I am not ashamed to speak the truth. I also will not argue back and forth with anyone, everyone has the right to say what they feel.
Regardless of the fact Frankie had a breaking point or not, like @JimC spoke out on so well, SHE chose a butter knife at one time (so the man said). That is no comparison to a shotgun. When you pick up a shotgun, there is full intent on hurting or killing someone. He had time to ponder that upon retrieval of the weapon. Some people think if you’re elderly you might get away with such poor judgement. Wrong. Bless all involved. Very sad.
There is never an excuse to kill someone, especially someone unarmed. I don’t care how “good” he is. Y’all are really saying breaking point?? And he shot at her chest? That is not self defense that is intention to kill. I hope I’m not around you during yours because that’s terrifying. Everyone thought my stepmom was a good Christian woman until she killed my dad the same way, a single gunshot to the chest.
I guess his public defencer will say he was Emotional imbalanced because he can’t cope with life in an effective and reasonable manner. Then the Judge will let him off with time served. Too bad the victim could not shoot back.
@William Well said!!! and I agree everyone does have a breaking point however not everyone goes off killing someone!
I grew up going to his house with my dad. So sad. He was always really nice.
@Duke ~Maybe everyone has a breaking point, but most people don’t react by murdering those with whom they disagree.
Praying for the family’s.
There’s no excuse to murder someone over an argument, disagreement or anything other than self defense or defense of another.
Don’t say he’s a good man, because good men don’t murder women over an argument, they walk away!!!! I want to know if he has a history of being abusive, because I can’t think of any reason to shoot a woman, no matter what the argument was about!!!!
sometimes people can be pushed to a breaking point I truly wished he would have let law enforcement get involved to help settle the issue they are trained to help you make the right choice. it’s so much better to reach out for outside help so the 2 can get a better understanding on how to defuse this matter rather than waking up behind bars asking himself what and the world have I done here. my heart goes out to the family of the victim it’s so so sad that someone reaches a breaking point to do this kind of thing. better to walk away and calm down so you want have regrets later on in life. God bless you all
Praying for everyone involved. So sad to hear.
Everyone has a limit, a breaking point.
Sad
What a sad situation. Hope he pays dearly!!