Eureka Springs, North Carolina

From Raleigh’s WRAL.com of March 14, 2006

Cumberland Co. Mother Shoots Home Intruder, Authorities Say

A Cumberland County mother shot and killed an apparent home intruder Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.

The shooting happened on the corner of Eloise Street and Charles Avenue near Fayetteville, where investigators said, a man kicked in the front door of the house, possibly to burglarize the house. The woman, Crystal Strickland, 23, then shot the man, investigators said.

They said Strickland was inside the house when she heard tapping on an outside window. When she went to investigate the noise, she either saw or heard the intruder, who was armed, trying to kick in the front door, authorities said. Strickland then got her gun, shots were exchanged and the intruder was hit.

The intruder, whose name was not released, left the scene in critical condition, but died shortly before arriving to a local hospital.

Authorities said Strickland told them that she did not know the intruder and, at this point, believe the shooting to be a case of a mother trying to protect her children.

Strickland, who is 9 months pregnant, has two other children: one 3 years old and another 1 year old.

From the FayettevilleNC.com of March 16, 2006

Police identify slain intruder

A man shot to death after breaking into a pregnant woman’s home was identified Wednesday as Louis Deon McMillian.

McMillian, 28, of the 800 block of Whitfield Street, was shot in the chest after he broke into a duplex on Charles Avenue in the Eureka Springs neighborhood, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office said.

He was taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, where he died.

McMillian was not carrying identification, so detectives had to identify him through his fingerprints.

Crystal Strickland, 22, was in the home with her two children, ages 3 and 1, when she heard a noise at her kitchen door, said Debbie Tanna, spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Office.

Strickland, who is nine months’ pregnant, saw McMillian at the door and went to get a gun, Tanna said.

McMillian ran around the home and kicked the door in.

Strickland told McMillian she had a gun, and he said that he had one, too. Tanna said shots were exchanged, and McMillian was hit. Neither Strickland nor her children were hurt.

Strickland’s gun was registered to her boyfriend, but the weapon has not been traced, Tanna added.

No one answered at Strickland’s home Wednesday afternoon. McMillian’s home on Whitfield Street appeared abandoned. The windows were boarded up, and no one answered the door.

Court records show that McMillian pleaded guilty in 1995 to charges of felonious assault with a deadly weapon and common-law robbery. He served at least two years in jail.

Detectives are continuing their investigation and will present evidence to the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office to decide whether charges will be filed.