East St. Louis, Illinois

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of February 7, 2006

87-year-old woman fatally shoots man in her home

An 87-year-old East St. Louis woman fatally shot a man early this morning as he was trying to break into her house.

Police said they found the man, Larry D. Tillman, 49, of East St. Louis on the enclosed front porch of the woman’s house in the 2100 block of Gaty Avenue. He had pulled the telephone wires from the side of the house, then removed security bars from a porch window.

As the man was breaking through a storm door that leads into the house itself, the woman fired several shots through her front door, striking Tillman once in the chest.

Police said the shots were fired from a pistol, most likely a gun that her daughter had given her after a man broke into the elderly woman’s house in December, battered her and stole some items.

The man may have been dead for as long as four hours before police arrived. Police said that the woman was not sure that she had hit Tillman when she fired the shots about 2 a.m. However, she was too afraid to go outside to check and could not call for help because the telephone lines were dead.

When the woman’s daughter arrived about 6 a.m. to bring her mother breakfast, she found the dead man on the porch, police said.

Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Jim Morrisey said evidence taken from the December home invasion would be compared to the break-in today to see if Tillman was responsible for both crimes.

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of February 8, 2006

Police will check 87-year-old woman's story in shooting

Illinois State Police investigators said Wednesday that they have every reason to believe that Jacksie Mae King, 87, was justified in firing a shot through her front door that struck and killed an intruder early Tuesday.

Even so, Master Sgt. James Morrisey said that investigators would spend two weeks or so examining ballistic evidence before presenting the case to Robert B. Haida, the St. Clair County state's attorney, who would determine if criminal charges are warranted.

"Based on the evidence that we saw yesterday and the interview with (King), it would appear that she was justified in defending herself," Morrisey said.

Police said that King awoke about 2 a.m. Tuesday to the sound of someone trying to break into her house in the 2100 block of Gaty Avenue. Two months earlier, King's daughter had given her a pistol after a man broke into her house, beat her and stole some items. King told police that she grabbed the pistol and fired several shots through the front door at a man who had removed security bars to get on to her enclosed porch.

One of the bullets fatally wounded Larry D. Tillman, 49, who lived nearby.

King couldn't call for help because her telephone line had been cut. Her daughter, Pamela Paulette-Clark, discovered Tillman's body when she came by at 6 a.m. to bring her mother breakfast.

Morrisey said that investigators were examining evidence from the earlier home invasion at King's residence to see if Tillman was involved. Tillman had a long criminal history, including two convictions for residential burglary.

"We'll take any evidence that was collected from the home invasion and we'll compare that with what was collected yesterday to see if Mr. Tillman was involved" in both incidents, Morrisey said.

Neither King nor Clark could be reached on Wednesday.

Haida said that a homicide can be considered justified under Illinois law if a person believes "that they are in imminent threat of harm" or if an attacker uses "some sort of weapon or object to cause great bodily harm or death."

Haida said he would take the matter under advisement after the State Police sends the case to him for his review.

"I don't want to prejudge anything," he said. "We have an obligation to judge the facts carefully."

He added: "If Jim Morrisey and his office suggest that there should be no charges, that won't dictate the outcome but certainly we won't overlook their opinion."

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of May 23, 2006

No firearms charges against woman, 87

An 87-year-old woman who fatally shot a would-be intruder will not be charged with a crime, even though she did not legally own the gun, authorities said Monday.

On Feb. 7, Jacksie Mae King fired several shots through the front door of her house after she woke up about 2 a.m. to the sounds of someone trying to break in.

One bullet hit Larry Tillman, 49, who was on the other side of the door, standing on King's enclosed porch.

He lay dead on the porch in the 2100 block of Gaty Avenue for four hours before he was found by King's daughter, who came to bring breakfast about 6 a.m. Meanwhile, King stayed inside clutching the pistol.

"She was justified in using deadly force to defend herself against the threat of deadly force," said Robert B. Haida, the St. Clair County state's attorney.

King's daughter gave her the .32-caliber Colt revolver two months earlier after a man broke into King's house in December. That intruder beat her and stole some of her things. In both incidents, the telephone lines to King's house were cut, and security bars were removed from a side window.