22-year-old shot between the eyes

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A 22-year-old man was shot at point-blank range between the eyes, causing immediate death, Kent County Medical Examiner Stephen Cohle said at the preliminary exam of the man accused in the shooting.

Daniel Chinchak, 21, was bound over for trial in connection with the death of Jason Arntz inside the Wimbledon Apartments in Grandville on July 22.

Cohle indicated the wound was so intense that it separated the two hemispheres of the brain and severed it from the brain stem, an injury that he said would result in immediate death.

"The weapon was touching (Arntz's) head," Cohle said. The gun was a .45 caliber.

Toxicology reports showed Arntz's blood alcohol level of 0.2 was more than twice the legal limit of 0.08.

Court documents show Chinchak told investigators he had a .45 caliber gun in his waistband and put it on the kitchen counter, then told his friend Arntz to leave because, he said, Arntz was threatening and drunk.

But then, he told police, he picked up the gun, raised it and retreated from Arntz. That's when Arntz reached for the gun and said he was going to take the pistol away from Chinchak.

Chinchak pulled the trigger, he said, in self-defense.

If convicted at his trial, Chinchak faces up to life in prison.