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The stepson of Duane “Dog the Bounty Hunter” Chapman was arrested on Tuesday — more than six months after he accidentally shot and killed his teenage son while under the influence of alcohol and marijuana, police said.
Gregory Anthony Zecca, 39, was charged with aggravated manslaughter after he mistakenly shot and killed his 13-year-old son, Anthony, at a UFC watch party at a friend’s apartment in Naples, Florida on July 19, according to cops.
Officers with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office took Zecca into custody early Tuesday after their six-month long investigation revealed he was allegedly drunk and high when he shot his son.
Police said in a news release that Zecca was drinking heavily throughout the day and, eventually, ingested marijuana while he and his son were watching the UFC fight.
While they were there, Zecca brandished his firearm near his son several times, including “practicing drawing it from his waistband and dry-firing” with no magazine in the chamber, the release said.
At some point, though, the magazine was inserted back into the chamber. Zecca then “discharged a single shot, fatally striking” Anthony, police said.
When police responded to the shooting, they immediately noted a pungent stench of alcohol and saw marijuana laid out “in plain view.”
Officials tested Zecca’s blood alcohol level, which had reached a staggering 0.116 — nearly two times the legal limit in Florida.
“This case underscores that devastating tragedy that can result from mixing firearms, alcohol and drugs. Our hearts are with everyone affected by this loss,” Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk said.
After the fatal shooting, Zecca was placed on a psychiatric hold as his family said they were concerned he would try and take his own life if left unattended.
It’s unclear when he may have been discharged from the psychiatric facility.
Zecca was charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child with a firearm and using a firearm while under the influence. The aggravated manslaughter charge alone could land him in prison for life.
Chapman’s attorney said that the situation “remains a devastating family tragedy.”
“We believe Greg loved his son deeply, and that this was a tragic accident — one that has left many lives permanently changed, especially Anthony’s, and Greg’s,” attorney Joseph Lesniak said in a statement to TMZ.
Chapman married Zecca’s mother, Francie Frane, in 2021 shortly after the couple lost their respective spouses to cancer.
The two families bonded over their shared Christian faith, grief journeys and Chapman’s gun-toting bounty hunter lifestyle.
Zecca even joined Chapman’s bounty team and shared various posts of himself and Anthony practicing at gun ranges.
Chapman has 13 other children between six different women, four of whom were previous wives.
In September, Chapman’s cop son, 24-year-old Garry Chapman, was briefly fired for his involvement in a high-speed chase that killed a 17-year-old boy in Alabama.
Gary was reinstated on Oct. 13 after he filed a $10 million wrongful termination lawsuit against the Priceville Police Department.
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