ROYALTON — The Royalton man charged with a fatal shooting early Tuesday morning is claming self defense.

Attorneys for Francis Phelps III say the 28-year-old was protecting himself and his family when he killed his mother’s ex-boyfriend outside of a Royalton home.

Phelps pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault with a weapon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

Police allege Phelps fatally shot George Sun, 41, and injured Dakota Fielder, 26, outside Phelps’ brother’s house on 4497 Route 14 just before 3 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Prosecutors said the evidence police found at the scene contradicts Phelps’s version of events.

“The physical evidence … simply rules out that explanation as one that could have happened,” Windsor County State’s Attorney Ward Goodenough said in court Wednesday.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Windsor Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Mann ordered Phelps held without bail until his trial.

Phelps, who appeared in court in a white T-shirt and wrist shackles, stared straight ahead throughout the hearing. As he was led from the courtroom, Phelps yelled, “I love you,” to a crowd of about 10 relatives and friends who attended.

Outside the courthouse, Phelps’ father, Frank Phelps II, said defended his son’s actions and said he was “not an angel,” but that he was a “good kid.”

“He’s a very protective person. ... They’re trying to portray him as some kind of animal, but he’s not,” Phelps II said.

The shooting was the culmination of a series of escalating disputes between the Phelpses and Sun, according to an affidavit written by Vermont State Police Detective Francis LaBombard.

The dispute started a little after midnight, when Phelps’ mother, Rebecca Wheeler, texted police to report that Sun, a former boyfriend, was sending her threatening text messages and banging on the door of her Deer Run Road home, according to the affidavit.

She said Sun was angry because she had refused to give him a ride from Lebanon on Monday night after he was arrested and released on a DUI charge.

Francis Phelps told police that his mother also called him that night about the threats and told him to stay awake “in case something happened,” according to the affidavit.

Unable to go back to sleep after the call, Phelps sat with his gun on the couch in his apartment, according to the affidavit.

Just before 3 a.m., his older brother Timothy Phelps called him to say that there were two men walking around outside his house on 4497 Route 14, according to the affidavit.

“Didn’t hesitate,” Phelps told police. “Got my gun, went over there.”

Phelps said after arriving at his brother’s house, he walked around the home until he encountered Sun and Fielder, according the affidavit.

“All of a sudden, they start coming at me. I panicked, so I just start shooting rounds,” Francis Phelps told police.

He claimed he wasn’t trying to kill the two men and he doesn’t remember how many times he fired the gun, the affidavit said.

Phelps told police he doesn’t believe he did anything wrong and that Sun was a “psycho,” according to the affidavit.

After the incident, Phelps hid the gun under the passenger seat of the car he was driving and called his mother, who called police, according to the affidavit.

Authorities arrived to find Sun shot dead in a field behind the house, while Fielder was suffering from a gunshot wound in the front yard, according to the affidavit.

Fielder told an officer at the scene that Phelps shot him and attacked him with what he believed was a crowbar, the affidavit said. When police investigated the scene they found the gun and a baton in Phelps’ car, and a piece broken off a baton alongside several shell casings in the driveway.

Both Fielder and Sun looked like they’d been attacked with a blunt object in addition to being shot, police said in the affidavit.

Timothy and Francis Phelps were both taken in for questioning Tuesday; Timothy Phelps was released without charges.

During the hearing Wednesday, defense attorney Joe Strain asked the judge to release Francis Phelps on bail, saying the shooting was an “isolated incident.”

Strain said the shooting was “done in the defense of his close family members,” adding that Phelps’ mother and brother had both felt threatened by Sun.

Goodenough urged the judge to hold Phelps without bail, arguing he poses a “significant risk” to the community.

Many of Francis Phelps’ relatives and friends who packed into the small courtroom were upset following the hearing.

“Anybody in their right mind would have done something like that,” Phelps’ friend Josh Demar said following the hearing. “I don’t know anybody who wouldn’t defend their family.”

As one group struggled with the judge’s decision Wednesday, others mourned the loss of Sun.

LaTessa Nelson, who knew both Francis Phelps and Sun, said in a message Wednesday that Sun was a “happy, loving, genuine” person, and that losing him has been hard.

“All I do is cry,” Nelson said, adding that she misses the conversations with the man she calls her best friend.

“George was always in great spirits,” she wrote. “He would always say ‘I have faith this will pass,’ and then laugh.”

Anna Merriman can be reached at amerriman@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.

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