Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Kentucky: Police: Shooting Was Self-Defense

Louisville, Kentucky

From WLKY of June 4, 2008
Police: Shooting Was Self-Defense

Two teens are dead, but police aren't charging the man who shot them with a crime.

The shooting happened Tuesday at a house in west Louisville.

"For sure, there's not a doubt in my mind, my wife and I would be dead if I didn't do what I did," said property owner Billy Jackson.

Jackson said he was sprucing up an apartment in the house he owns at 3517 West Broadway when two masked men forced their way inside. He said one had a large gun, and threatened to kill him and his wife.

"I figured I was going to die and they were going to die, too," said Jackson. "I faked a heart attack; shot him in the side."

The coroner released the names of the alleged intruders late Wednesday afternoon. They are Earl Springer and Dazmond Turner, both 19.

"It just seems like I'm going to lay down, wake up and this is not happening," said Stephanie Roach, Turner's great aunt.

She said Turner's death doesn't seem real. She said he once had dreams of NBA stardom, but she never dreamed he would be accused of invading a home.

"It's just something that he wouldn't do and it's been eating at me all night long. It's like, no, that's not Daz," she said. "I don't know if he was forced into doing it, but that is not my nephew."

"At least one of the suspects was armed with a handgun," said Metro Police Detective Phil Russell. "The property owner was assaulted. He sustained minor injuries."

Police said Springer died at the scene, while Turner died early Wednesday morning at University Hospital.

"They will confer with the commonwealth attorney's office in order to determine if charges need to be placed," Russell said. "At this time in the investigation, it looks as though this was self-defense."

Family members said Turner was once a star point guard for Valley High School who was working toward getting his GED while preparing to be a first-time father this summer.

Roach said family members thought Turner was out of town at the time of the shooting. Now they wish he would have followed through on those plans.

"That's what's shocking everybody. He was supposed to be in Florida to reunite with his mother and his sisters," Roach said. "Now, they're on their way to bury him."

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