Xavier Alexander was upstairs when the yelling started again. Arguments between his mother and stepfather weren’t unusual.

Something about this summer evening was different, though. His mom, Michele McCray, had been drinking and recently struggling with her mental health, Alexander told police.

Voices swelled downstairs, and Alexander heard his mother shout, “What are you going to do? Put your hands on me?”

His stepfather, Antoine Johnson, replied that he wouldn’t — but Alexander heard his mother say she was going to get her gun, according to charging documents.

A few moments later, Alexander heard footsteps on the stairs, then a gunshot. He bolted outside to find Johnson lying face-down in the front yard of their Gwynn Oak home. His mother stood nearby, clutching a handgun.

Shortly before 7 p.m. Tuesday, Alexander called Baltimore County Police, saying his mom had shot his stepfather at their home in the 3600 block of Tulsa Road.

When officers arrived, they found the 46-year-old Johnson in the yard with a gunshot wound to the head. Medics pronounced Johnson dead on the scene.

Officers brought Alexander and his mom to Baltimore County Police headquarters for questioning.

In an interview, police said, McCray told them the shot was an accident. McCray told police she was upset with Johnson earlier in the day when he was at work.

When he came home, McCray said, he began arguing with her. Then things got physical and Johnson choked her, McCray told police.

After that, McCray told officers, Johnson walked outside and she went upstairs to get her gun. McCray pointed the gun at Johnson while he was outside just to scare him, she said, but she mistakenly pulled the trigger and shot him.

Police said they observed no marks or injuries on McCray’s throat or neck.

McCray, 42, was charged with first-degree murder and is being held without bond at the Baltimore County Detention Center. She did not have an attorney listed at the time of publication.