Michael Whitehead

LONDON, Ky. (WKYT) - Michael Whitehead claims he was at home asleep when a deputy sheriff came into his house.

“They jerked me out of bed and said ‘you’re under arrest,’ and I said ‘what for?’ It was 12 0’clock at night and they said ‘assault first degree,’” Whitehead said Friday from inside the Laurel County Detention Center in London.

Police say Whitehead shot his neighbor, Everett Morgan, 61, inside Morgan’s house. “He had multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and he said ‘that guy laying on the floor in front of me is the guy that shot me,” said Deputy Gilbert Acciardo with the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office.

After being told those allegations Whitehead said all he remembers is being asleep in bed with his wife. Although he claims he doesn’t know Morgan, he said he wonders if Morgan was in his house. “Why was he in my house? He should have been shot being in my house,” said Whitehead.

Police say they are not sure of the motive but they know that alcohol was involved. Police say that could be why Whitehead is confused on where he was when he arrested.

Whitehead says he was arrested around 11 or 12 Thursday night, yet police say it was 1:18 a.m. Friday. Whitehead says he also doesn’t know where he got some marks on his head, if he received them during the arrest, or how he’ll defend himself on these charges.

“I’m 64-years-old…if I go to prison, I’ll die in prison,” he said.

Yet police say Whitehead is clearly the one they found at Morgan’s house, passed out drunk, with the gun used in the assault beside him.