West Hartford, Connecticut

From Hartford's NBC30.com of June 28, 2004

One Dead After Shooting At Groton Dairy Queen

Police: Owner Shoots Man Sunday Night

Police said a Dairy Queen owner shot a man who broke into the store Sunday night.

Authorities said the intruder was armed with a crow bar. The unidentified man died at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital.

Neighbors along Fort Hill Road said they heard multiple gunshots. Police arrived at the scene around midnight.

A store manager said the Dairy Queen closed around 10 p.m. Sunday. Police said the intruder broke into the store by prying a lock off the back door with the crow bar.

The manager said her boss was struck three times in the head with the crow bar.

Police did not release registration information regarding the gun. They are continuing their investigation.

From New London’s The Day of June 10, 2006

Hear The Evidence First

Shooting lawsuit may appear frivolous, but questions remain.

On June 28, 2004, Jarion Childs, 27, allegedly broke into the Dairy Queen on Route 1 in Groton after it had closed. According to the account provided by Stephen Botchis, the victim of the break-in, Mr. Childs was carrying a crowbar and wearing a mask. He scuffled with Botchis, the manager, who was alone. Mr. Botchis, 51 at the time, suffered injuries when he was hit in the head during the struggle, but he had a gun and fired several shots, killing Mr. Childs.

Now Mr. Childs' family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Mr. Botchis, his brother Matthew Botchis, who owns the business, and the Dairy Queen company.

On its face, the lawsuit appears to make no sense. Why should someone committing a break-in, while wearing a mask and carrying a crowbar, have any right to compensation for the collateral harm that befalls him?

In fact, questions remain about what happened that night. The civil court system, as abused as it is with frivolous lawsuits, is one place where people can demand answers.

Eroll Skyers of Bridgeport, the attorney for the Childs' family, said the lawsuit intends to get at the answers and to prove that Mr. Childs, a college graduate and one-time high school basketball standout and college player, did not deserve to die.

The autopsy determined that Mr. Childs was shot in the back more than once. This, Mr. Skyers suggests, shows that Mr. Childs was moving away at the time. He also contends that Mr. Childs was an “invitee,” not the burglar described in published accounts. He refused to elaborate.

Mr. Skyers said that because he represents the “victim” of the shooting, he was able to review the police investigation. The attorney for Mr. Botchis has not had the opportunity to see the report, nor has the public. In fact Groton police have provided little information about the incident. Chief Kelly Fogg said that a summary of its investigation should be available in about a week.

Attorney William Corrigan of Hartford, representing Mr. Botchis, contends all the information he has suggests that Mr.

Childs was a burglar who was shot because he threatened his client's life.

Until evidence is provided to the contrary, the presumption should be that Mr. Botchis was the real victim who, fearing for his life, didn't have the opportunity to analyze the motives of his attacker before he started firing.

And if Mr. Botchis did something wrong, why was he never charged criminally?

Further undermining the credibility of the civil case is the fact that at the time of his death Mr. Childs was a suspect in a cold-blooded murder.

A. Gordon Jeffrey, who was 89, was severely beaten while tied in his own bed on May 14, 2004. His face disfigured, eyes swollen shut, the Stonington man died two weeks later, about one month before the Dairy Queen incident.

Mr. Childs' sister, Sonya Childs, told police her brother had planned to “jack” Mr. Jeffrey because he was bedridden and easy prey. Her statement is contained in an affidavit police used to obtain a search warrant for the apartment of Mr. Childs' girlfriend. Though the sister later denied making the statement, Mr. Childs' palm prints were found on a window at Mr. Jeffrey's home.

The murder case remains open.

So is this lawsuit a tawdry and baseless attempt to gain a cash windfall from a tragedy? Or is it a legitimate attempt to get at the truth?

Only time and the evidence will tell