New London police say a man accused of shooting a female friend in the buttocks last month was a mid-level marijuana supplier in the area.

George Taylor, 44, was served with an arrest warrant Monday charging him with possession of narcotics with intent to sell and operation of a drug factory when he appeared in New London Superior Court for the shooting case. 

He had already been charged last month with first-degree assault, criminal possession of a pistol by a felon, criminal possession of ammunition by a felon, unlawful discharge of a firearm and altering the identity of a firearm. Judge Hillary B. Strackbein read him his rights, and he pleaded not guilty Monday to all of the charges.

According to police incident reports and affidavits, Taylor shot 35-year-old Janeria McClellan of Groton in the buttocks when she visited him at his apartment at 12 Home St. She was wearing pajamas when she came out of the home limping and in pain, and told responding officers, "He was screwing around with his gun and shot me."

Police said they found a shell casing in the apartment and a loaded Taurus 9mm pistol with an obliterated serial number on the ground of an adjacent property. The pistol had blood on its trigger and appeared to be jammed. Inside Taylor's apartment, they said they saw a shell casing in the doorway between the living room and bedroom and blood on the apartment's floors, carpets and door.

After obtaining a warrant to search Taylor's apartment, detectives say they found 36 grams of marijuana, $2,390 in cash, a digital scale, sandwich bags and a machine to vacuum seal bags. They found a book titled, "Bloody Money, Who Said Da Game Was Fair?"

Interviewed  at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, McClellan said she went to the home for a visit at about 1 a.m. She said Taylor was drunk and was holding a gun when she arrived. As they sat together in the living room, she said he pointed the gun at her and thought it was a joke. She said she got scared and went into the bedroom. Taylor yelled at her to come out or he was going to shoot her "in the butt," then came into the room and shot her, hurting his own finger during the shooting. She said he refused to call 911 and she called herself.

Taylor, also taken to the hospital for his finger injury, told an officer the shooting was his fault and started praying to God that he would change his ways if the victim was OK, according to an incident report.

He has convictions dating back to 2000, including selling narcotics, possession of marijuana and third-degree assault. He is being held at the Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Institution in lieu of bonds totaling $250,000. Attorney Bruce McIntyre has been appointed to represent him.

k.florin@theday.com