Dallas, Texas

From the Dallas Morning News of August 5, 2006

Man not guilty in liquor store slaying

A Louisiana man who settled in Dallas in the weeks after Hurricane Katrina was found not guilty of murder late Thursday after shooting a man in the parking lot of a northwest Dallas liquor store.

Billy Montrell Jackson acknowledged fatally shooting 29-year-old Mongu Simpkins in October but said he acted in self-defense because Mr. Simpkins had threatened him.

Mr. Jackson said he thought Mr. Simpkins was reaching for a gun when he shot him five times, including four times in the back, while the victim's girlfriend and 2-year-old daughter looked on. A gun was never recovered from the victim.

"I felt threatened, like my life was about to be taken from me," Mr. Jackson testified.

By law, people can use deadly force when they believe they are in imminent danger, that deadly force will be used against them and when retreating is not possible. Such force is not justified in response to spoken provocation alone.

Witness accounts of the daytime shooting, outside Webb Chapel Liquor in the 9700 block of Webb Chapel Road, varied. Several witnesses changed their stories, court testimony revealed.

Some witnesses described Mr. Simpkins as a gang member who was upset that Mr. Jackson was selling drugs in a neighborhood controlled by his gang.

Witnesses agreed that Mr. Simpkins had told Mr. Jackson that he had to leave the parking lot because he was not from the area.

Mr. Jackson denied that he was selling drugs but did not explain why he was hanging around for hours in front of the liquor store in an unfamiliar neighborhood.

When Mr. Simpkins returned later that afternoon and saw him again, Mr. Jackson said, Mr. Simpkins got out of his car and threatened him, then grabbed a gun from inside his car.

"I was protecting my life," he said, describing why he shot Mr. Simpkins.

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