Thursday, May 21, 2009

Sacramento Teenager Protects His Mother

Sacramento County, California

From the May 21, 2009 Sacramento Bee:
A 17-year-old boy stands accused of killing a man Tuesday morning, though detectives now believe the shooting was justified, authorities said Wednesday.

Sacramento County sheriff's deputies arrested the boy, whose name has not been released because he is a juvenile, late Tuesday night on suspicion of murder, said sheriff's Sgt. Tim Curran.

Detectives made the arrest based on information they had gathered about the fatal shooting that morning of 30-year-old James Davis on the 2800 block of La Quinta Drive, Curran said.

But after interviewing the boy, Curran said, detectives learned that he had acted in self-defense – and in defense of his mother, Davis' girlfriend, who had been "beaten severely" before the fatal confrontation.

The boy was booked into juvenile hall on a murder charge but later released – though the murder charge still stands, Curran said. The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office is reviewing the case and will decide if it was justifiable homicide.

Deputies were called to La Quinta Drive, near Folsom Boulevard in south Sacramento about 5 a.m. after reports of gunshots and a woman screaming. They found Davis' body on the sidewalk, and paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. The Sheriff's Department is not releasing the woman's name because she is not a suspect and is a victim of domestic violence.

Curran said the victim and his girlfriend had had a "violent fight," witnessed by the 17-year-old boy, who followed Davis outside and shot him, Curran said. ...

Davis had a history of domestic violence in Sacramento County, according to Superior Court records. Most recently, he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor domestic violence in September 2004 and was sentenced to 365 days in jail.

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