Uncle shoots niece & her daughter in Winton

MERCED COUNTY, Calif (KFSN) -- Two North Valley women who were shot by a relative this weekend are out of the hospital. Now one of the victims is defending the man who pulled the trigger.

The suspect in this case is a 72-year-old man who relatives say suffers from some degree of dementia. His niece doesn't believe he was in his right mind when he shot her and her daughter during an argument.

You can still see the blood where a bullet grazed Tamara Doty's ear during a shooting on Sunday, but the 54-year-old knows she came within inches of losing her life.

Tamara said, "Yeah, I could have died, but the good lord, he wasn't ready for me."

Deputies rushed to the home in Winton after getting several 9-1-1 calls about gunfire and a woman bleeding. They found Tamara and her 20-year-old daughter -- who were both shot in the ear. Investigators say 72-year-old James Robert Miller fired at them during a family dispute. He later called his daughter from jail.

"I said, you shot Tammy?" Mary Bhogal told ABC30. "And he said yes, he said I didn't mean to, I meant to shoot up in the air, and he said I don't know what happened."

Relatives say James has had multiple strokes and often uses a wheelchair to get around. Tamara was his live-in caretaker.

Tamara added, "I'm still a little bit in shock, but he, he was just upset because my daughter was here, he didn't want her here."

Tamara says she doesn't know if her uncle meant to scare them or shoot them, but either way she doesn't want him in jail.

"I will forgive because I don't hold grudges, and that's my family and blood is thicker than water, so I just hope he that can get help," explained Tamara.

Deputies are still looking into the suspect's mental health status -- and say they can move forward with the case, even if the victims don't press charges.

Deputy Delray Shelton with the Merced County Sheriff's Office said, "Nonetheless, he did discharge a firearm, and it is a crime, and we do have to investigate it."

Tamara's daughter had to get stitches in her ear, but was also released from a hospital in Modesto Sunday night.

As for the suspect, he's still being held in the Merced County jail on a $50,000.00 bail for assault with a firearm.