Warning: I am going with has been published in the regular media. Grain of salt and all that.
Doyon told investigators that he was asleep in the home and woke to find an unknown man holding a gun to his head. He says the man demanded the keys to his safe, and that as Doyon was opening the safe he grabbed an M-4 rifle and began shooting at the unknown man.
Doyon says the man took his wallet and $100 cash. A search of the shooting victim revealed a cell phone in his hand and a gun on the ground nearby, but no sign of the cash or wallet.
Detectives due to the fact the victim was running away from Doyon, and the lack of evidence of a theft, Doyon was arrested and charged with 2nd Degree Murder.
In Spanish we say “Enemigo que huye, puente de plata.” (Fleeing enemy gets a silver bridge.) Sun Tzu preached “Build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across. Both give us the same message, Let that bastard get away. You are not in warfare and there are no legal brownie points to achieve by shooting a feeling criminal.
Once the Bad Guy makes clear he is disengaging, your window for self-defense is closed. The bullet that 2 seconds before would have been a non-issue because it was used in a justifiable shooting is now evidence in a murder case.
If he actually stole anything it’s legal to shoot him running in Texas, and his survivors can’t sue you. Doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.
This is going to be an interesting one to watch, for the rest of the details of how it really played out (possible drug deal gone wrong or real home invasion and if maybe the gun on the ground was a “drop”). As you say, too early to know yet. I’d like to know what gave the detectives cause to believe that he was running away. Holes in the back don’t always mean retreat.
I’ve always disagreed with the concept that the bad guy can commit an offense you can shoot them over and then, suddenly, say “I quit” and they get to go free.
NO.
But both my Scots and Italian blood cry for vendetta… Morally, his life is forfeit the second he broke in.
Legally, well… I guess there’s a reason that m-o-r-a-l and l-e-g-a-l are spelled differently.
Frigging Celts 😀
To be fair, a man with a gun in his hand can go from “running” to “putting bullets in your face” quite quickly.
Won’t disagree with you, but trying to prove it in court is the issue. You will be asked if you read the mind of the victim, etc just to make you look like a bloodthirsty killer.