What's With People?

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-11-2009
What's With People?
52
Sat, 05-09-2009 - 1:53am

There was a thread on here about a man in Texas who had called 911 to report that the house next door was being robbed.  The man left his home despite the protestations of the 911 operator that he stay put in the safety of his home.  He went out and shot and killed the robbers as they were leaving the scene of the crime.  The vigilante was cleared of all charges because Texas has a law that basically sends the message, "shoot first, ask questions later."  Well, a Texas couple shot four people, two were children.  If the child dies, should they be charged with manslaughter or homocide or should they walk, because of Texas' special law?


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30650051


Couple accused of shooting 4, including 2 kids


Texas authorities say victims were off-roading when they were fired upon

Off Road Shooting


Gale and Sheila Muhs, seen here in booking photos, are accused of shooting four people, including two children


Fri., May 8, 2009


HOUSTON - A couple has been accused of opening fire and wounding four people — including a 7-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl — who they mistakenly thought were trespassing on their property.


The victims, who were off-roading near a residential area about 40 miles northeast of Houston, were struck with shotgun pellets late Thursday after stopping their vehicles near the Trinity River so the children could go to the bathroom, said Liberty County Chief Deputy Ken DeFoor.


Police said resident Sheila Muhs, 45, fired once with a 12-gauge shotgun, then handed it to her husband, Gayle Muhs, also 45. DeFoor said Sheila Muhs called 911 and told the dispatcher, "They're out here tearing up the levee, so I shot them."


The Muhs have been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and remained in jail Friday. The Muhs don't have an attorney yet to comment on their case, DeFoor said.


Donald Coffey Jr., the 7-year-old boy, was shot in the head and was in critical condition Friday. Patrick Cammack, a friend of the boy's father who was driving in a separate vehicle, also was shot in the head and in critical condition.


Donald Coffey Sr., 36, had a pellet wound in his right shoulder. His daughter, 5-year-old Destiny, was shot in the elbow but was in good condition.


After the shootings, Coffey's wife, who also was riding in the SUV, drove the vehicle to a nearby fire station, where the victims were taken by helicopter to a hospital. The right rear window of the SUV had been shattered, and pellet marks covered the side of the vehicle, DeFoor said.


The victims said Coffey and Cammack took a county road to a residential levee in the Westlake subdivision near the Trinity River.


According to an 11-year-old boy who was also with the off-roading group, they did not stop on the levee but by the side of the road, DeFoor said.


Shortly afterward, DeFoor said, the shots were fired from about 40 yards away. DeFoor said the victims were unarmed.


"The levee is not private property, it belongs to the subdivision," said DeFoor. "Even if they were on the levee, it's not a shootable offense. It's ludicrous to shoot someone for going to the bathroom on the side of the road.">>>


http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/012008dnmetfightingback.6a8cbd.html


'Castle law' arms Texas homeowners with right to shoot
 

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Sat, 05-09-2009 - 7:28am

If the child dies, should they be charged with manslaughter or homicide or should they walk, because of Texas' special law?


Homicide IMO. They weren't trespassing & even if they were normal people don't shoot at others without being threatened.


The other case you mentioned he should have been found guilty of murder IMO.

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Avatar for claddagh49
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-20-2004
Sat, 05-09-2009 - 3:50pm
OMG, I'm sorry, but they are about the UGLIEST couple I have seen! Yes, they should be charged with homicide, shooting children not even tresspassing. The other case was different, he saw them breaking into his neighbors home.
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-05-2009
Sat, 05-09-2009 - 5:52pm

The child has died and they will be facing homicide charges.


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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-11-2009
Sat, 05-09-2009 - 6:19pm
OMG! I am still upset about just shooting people for fear of a potential future crime. Now, they've shot a killed a 7 year old. They had to have a sense that the person they were shooting was small and was likely a child. I just don't understand the mindset that shooting people is a right. I hope that authorities throw the book at them. I hope Texas rethinks this "shoot first, ask questions later" Castle law. It really is just inviting a wild west, anything goes attitude.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-05-2009
Sat, 05-09-2009 - 6:51pm

I'm in favor of the law here in Texas, as it was intended.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-11-2009
Sat, 05-09-2009 - 6:58pm
In Maryland, you can only shoot people if your life is in immediate danger. You can't just shoot because somebody is on or near your property. I think our law is more prudent. Killing should be reserved for self-defense.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-05-2009
Sat, 05-09-2009 - 10:36pm

Well, let me back up.... the story keeps changing in the Houston Chronicle as more details are being known.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-05-2009
Sat, 05-09-2009 - 10:43pm

The killings were wrong, imo... but the following is why no one really cared:


From Wikipedia:


Police initially identified the dead men in Horn's yard as 38-year-old Miguel Antonio DeJesus and Diego Ortiz, 30, both of Houston of Afro Latino descent. However, DeJesus was actually an alias of Hernando Riascos Torres, 38. They were carrying a sack with more than $2,000 cash and jewelry taken from the home. Both were convicted criminals from Colombia who had entered the country illegally, and were members of an organized burglary ring in Houston. Police found a Puerto Rican identification card on Ortiz while Torres had three identification cards from Colombia, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic, and had been previously sent to prison for dealing cocaine and was deported in 1999.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-11-2009
Sat, 05-09-2009 - 11:25pm

You're right! Those people sound like nuts. Who would put a sign out front of their home like that? Sheesh...

I hope they are tried for first degree murder.

As for the killing of those two thieves, we still can't kill people who don't pose an immediate threat toward our own lives here in Maryland. I think Texas' law just opens the door to all sorts of ways to legally kill people. Here in Maryland, it doesn't matter if someone is a gang member or an illegal immigrant. If they don't pose an immediate threat, we can't kill them. Texas may wish to specify in their law that killing someone for theft from the neighbor's home, just isn't a justifiable act.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-05-2009
Sat, 05-09-2009 - 11:55pm

The law definitely needs to be tweaked.

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