A 31-year-old Chickasha man has been arrested and charged with second degree manslaughter after fatally shooting a 13-year-old neighbor.

Witnesses say Boone David Buben was friends with his young neighbor, Andrew White. On May 30, the teenager was visiting Buben's house when the man accidentally shot and killed him.

Initially, Buben told police that when he noticed the young man come into his house, he picked up a gun to put it in a gun safe to keep it out of the boy's presence. However, he said he accidentally dropped the gun and it discharged, striking the teen in the chest, killing him.

Grady County first assistant district attorney Kara Bacon first reported that no charges would be filed in the accidental shooting, but after Buben changed his story, prosecutors decided to file charges.

Buben reportedly called the boy's grandmother recently and told her a different story than he initially told investigators. He said that White came over wearing paper claws that he had made, and Buben picked up the gun, believing it to be unloaded, pointed it at the teen, and fired. He says he forgot that he had loaded the gun the night before when he thought he heard someone outside his home.

Now prosecutors have decided to file a second degree manslaughter charge against Buben in the accidental shooting death.

Under state law, second degree manslaughter is defined as follows:

"Every killing of one human being by the act, procurement or culpable negligence of another, which, under the provisions of this chapter, is not murder, nor manslaughter in the first degree, nor excusable nor justifiable homicide, is manslaughter in the second degree."

Second degree manslaughter does not require any intent to harm. It is most frequently defined by an act of negligence. For example, the dog owner in a fatal dog attack would be charged with second degree manslaughter.

Manslaughter in the second degree is a felony. The maximum penalty for second degree manslaughter is four years in prison.