Wyoming man charged following fatal fight over parking dispute

SHERIDAN, Wyo. - A man has been charged following a fight over a parking dispute in Sheridan that resulted in the death of another man.

Cody McCalla, 33, was charged Monday in Sheridan Circuit Court with involuntary manslaughter for the death of Patrick Mudd.

According to court records, the two men got into a fight late Friday afternoon in the 1900 block of West Fifth Street, near the Sheridan County Fairgrounds.

An officer who responded to the "fight in progress" call reported he arrived to find a man on the ground in a puddle of blood and another man in the grass with blood on his hands. Several people reported they were witnesses.

McCall, who was in the grass, told the officer he was in a fight with the man on the ground and only hit him once, court records state. The officer said McCalla had a swollen nose, blood on his face, swollen cheeks, and bloody hands.

Mudd was unable to speak and "completely unconscious," the officer reported. He was being treated by paramedics and there was a large amount of blood around his head. He died Saturday.

Two witnesses gave similar accounts of seeing the two men in an argument about a parking issue. The witnesses said they heard Mudd tell McCalla to leave him alone and then heard "knuckles hitting" and saw Mudd go to the ground.

A man who was with McCalla also gave a statement and said they were attempting to park their vehicle and had pulled in behind a vehicle driven by Mudd's girlfriend. The man said he was driving, court records state, and accidentally backed into Mudd's truck. The man said Mudd jumped out of the vehicle and started yelling at them, and they parked further down the road "to get away from the crash," court records state.

The man said they walked toward Mudd, who was still yelling at them. Mudd and McCalla got into a shoving match that broke out into punches.

The witness said "Mudd punched McCalla in the face when he slipped, McCalla stood, McCalla punched Mudd in retaliation," court records state. "Mudd hit the ground with his head and began bleeding."

Sheridan Media reports Mudd was the coach of a Sheridan Youth Hockey team.