An actress who plays a murderer in an upcoming horror movie has been charged with shooting her uncle to death in Jackson City, Oregon, ABC News reports.
Aisling Tucker Moore-Reed had auditioned for the role of Valerie Faust in the unreleased independent film, From the Dark after she was released on bail for the alleged shooting.
Following a successful audition, which took place under Moore-Reed's pseudonym 'Wyn Reed', she was cast as the lead actress in the low-budget movie. This was before the Oregon-based production company, Siskiyou Productions was made aware of the case.
"We need to clear the air about some rumors that have been going around," Siskiyou Productions, who have since released the trailer for the movie, told ABC News. "Our lead actress is currently facing a legal battle that we were not made aware of until after filming had wrapped. Since then we have been struggling with how to approach this unfortunate situation."
The production company only learned of the allegations on July 23, 2018 - the day after they wrapped on principal photography.
Classified as a "rural murder-thriller", the film centres around Valerie Faust's last day of work as a tour guide at a lodge in an Oregon forest. In the film, Faust shoots someone to death.
The investigation into the death of the 30-year-old's uncle continued while the movie was in production from April 2018 to July 2018. Moore-Reed’s defence team handed over her cellphone as evidence. It contained a video she recorded of the incident in order to prove the shooting was self-defence, according to the Washington Post.
Following the deadly encounter, Moore-Reed cried, "I didn't mean to shoot him in the chest," according to footage originally posted by The Oregonian.
Moore-Reed’s mother, Kelly Moore, a former lawyer corroborated her daughter's claims of self-defence, the Post reports.
Due to the low budget, Moore-Reed was not paid for her participation in the film and no background checks were conducted.
Siskiyou Productions said they "believed her story and felt for her deeply" when she argued it was self-defence. However, once they saw the footage that led to the charges being upgraded to murder, their "perspectives changed."
Moore-Reed is currently being held without bail at the Jackson County Jail, with the murder trial set for December.