Teen Home Invaders Killed by Senior Citizen Resident(s)...

[maxparrish]

We made the call yesterday that the families of two teen home invaders shot down in a widow’s home would likely whine that they didn’t deserve to be shot, and sadly, we were right on target:

Family and friends of two teenage boys shot and killed inside a home they had broken into are speaking out.

“They didn’t deserve to get killed,” said the sister of 14-year-old Michael Sambrano.

He and his 16-year-old best friend were shot and killed on Sunday morning by someone inside a home the teens were breaking into. Police won’t say whether it was the elderly homeowner or her brother who shot and killed the teens who had just broken into their home.

“They were on their way out the door, and I just think it was wrong that they were shot,” said Christina Sambrano.

But many who live on Arcade Boulevard say the neighbor did the right thing.

“Justice was served,” said Robert Robinson.

http://bearingarms.com/family-friends-dead-home-invaders-say-didnt-deserve-get-killed/

At least justice was served on the older boy, but not so clear to me that the 14 year old was quite as deserving. None the less, they earned it through repeated breakins. (And no, they weren't black kids).

 

[Tom Sawyer]

How is shooting them in the back as they're leaving the house a good thing? It's cool to shoot someone on the way in because they represent a threat to you on your property. If, however, they are exiting your property without harming anyone then there's no self-defence involved and it's just a plain old ordinary murder.

 

[Rhea]

if they were on the way out - i.e. no physical threat, are we saying burglary is a capital offense and does not get a trial or attorney? That's what "deserved it" means in those circumstances.

I'm not judging a case where someone was threatened because there is zero info on that. But if they were _leaving_ what does "deserved it" mean?

 

[bilby]

if they were on the way out - i.e. no physical threat, are we saying burglary is a capital offense and does not get a trial or attorney? That's what "deserved it" means in those circumstances.

I'm not judging a case where someone was threatened because there is zero info on that. But if they were _leaving_ what does "deserved it" mean?

Indeed.

I for one do not wish to live in a society where the death penalty can be enacted without so much as a trial; nor in a society which has such a severe penalty for the relatively minor offence of burglary.

The use of lethal force in self defence I can understand. But that does not seem to be what happened here; there is no need to defend yourself against a person who has his back to you and is in the process of leaving your property.

This sounds to me like a straight-out murder.

 

[Derec]

Lots of teenage burglars in the news recently - weird.
Two more cases:
We have had the conviction of Bryon Smith, who laid in wait (he even parked his truck away to make the house appear unoccupied) for two teenage burglars, who apparently have broken into his house before, and executed at least the girl because she didn't die immediately. In a true "hoist by his own petard" moment he actually audio recorded the whole thing, which proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was guilty of premeditated murder.
True to form though, Sean Hannity has been defending the murderer.

By the way, this case is not dissimilar to the case in the OP in that both shooters were elderly. It is, of course, very different in other aspects.

In NOLO we have a revisit of last year's case of a 14 year old burglar named Marshall Coulter being shot by a homeowner after the perp climbed a 6 ft fence into the man's yard. His family defended him by saying that he was only a "professional thief" but not violent.
Shooting of 14-year-old in New Orleans ignites passionate debate
Police/DA's office are pretty gung-ho on prosecuting the homeowner who defended his home and family, even going so far as to speak of Coulter's accomplice/lookout as a "witness" (but the grand jury hasn't been compliant so far). And of course there was a lot of apologetics like this one from his teacher.
Well there are two developments there - first, despite some grim predictions, Marshall seems to have recovered fully, at least physically and is back to his old tricks - burgling homes. It has also come to light that in 2012, when he was only 13, he also burgled a house and fled with the homeowner's gun after a struggle (a violent crime by the way).
Marshall Coulter, teen shot by Marigny homeowner, now accused of crime of violence

A dishonorable mention: not a burglary, but a (very likely) drunk teenage driver. 19 year old Samantha Ramsey was shot and killed by a deputy after speeding away from a DUI stop. We know the cop shot her from the hood of her moving Subaru but it is unclear how he got there. He says she hit him (backed up by his injuries for which he was treated) and her friends in the car say he jumped on the hood, but of course neither are disinterested witnesses exactly.