MARTINS CREEK (AP) — A judge has ruled that a man accused of fatally shooting his stepson during what authorities say was a drunken argument in their family home will stand trial on a homicide charge.

The ruling came Monday after a preliminary hearing for 52-year-old Dennis Long. He has pleaded not guilty and his lawyer has suggested that the shooting could have been an accident.

Prosecutors say Long shot and killed 26-year-old Ryan Boomer on Oct. 31 in Lower Mount Bethel.

Authorities have said the two men were arguing about the stepson’s lack of a job when a struggle ensued and Boomer was shot just below the left armpit. He was pronounced dead a short time later.

Long’s wife was also at the home when the shooting occurred but was not injured.