Texas Cop Who Fatally Shot Man After Entering Wrong Apartment Identified

She tried entering into the wrong apartment (it happens, I’ve done it). Black man opens the door, she gets startled, and without thinking shoots him.

That sequence of events is far more plausible than she committed intentional murder.

 

My initial thought after reading the Heavy's article is .... it's the training

Panic, deaf, quick trigger. That's the training that cop embody. Shoot first, ask later. Automatic response without awareness. Combine that with subconscious thought of who is a danger and who isn't...

 

Yes. We've been conditioned to automatically think: "Black Man -- DANGER." Regular civilians, as well as the police.

 

Should be tried for murder. She does seem to be protected by the cops with how they've been hush and slow on their investigation.

I heard Twitter rumors that they knew each other. I hope the truth comes out.

 

This isn't something a normal person would do. Maybe when you open the door you would notice that it isn't your apartment. If her mindset is Black=Shoot well I guess we have serious problem. If she walks I would be pissed if I was black.

 

She should be tried for Murder. Seems a clear case of 2nd degree murder.

 

I'd be pissed if I was human (I am, I think). The fact that she wasn't immediately arrested is beyond my comprehension.

 

*he* opened the door (per report), while she was trying to get her key to work. And my bet is he looked through his peep hole first, and opened knowing he'd be greeting a cop. I first thought she got in somehow (unlocked?) and got startled by a man in the dark.

That's some crazy sh4t to think "Danger|Shoot" before processing the man's action to that of an owner greeting a cop at his door.

 

But you haven't done IT (kill/murder) despite the fact you have attempted to enter the wrong apartment. She did.

 

Yeah, that's what I assume happened. That sounds like murder to me. When she pulled the trigger, her intent was to kill the target. It's not like a manslaughter charge where someone drives a car in a reckless way and ends up killing somebody without any intent.

It could be that the prosecutor is going for the low-hanging fruit, knowing a manslaughter charge will be easier to get on a cop than a murder charge. But this doesn't sit too well with me. It could be that she was drunk/high, and the courts will conclude that reduces her culpability (which is dumb, imo).

Murder: https://statelaws.findlaw.com/texas-law/texas-second-degree-murder-laws.html
Manslaughter: https://statelaws.findlaw.com/texas-law/texas-manslaughter-laws.html

 

The 2nd Degree Murder link has a list of defenses against 2nd Degree charges ... note the last one

"Heat of passion" defense (i.e. The defendant was provoked to commit the crime by fear, rage, terror or some other extreme emotion.)
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She's going to do the "fear of black men" defense.

 

She could have been high on lean

 

I guess I am mistaken in the definition of murder. If someone shoots someone they wrongly think are committing a crime in their home, it is still murder? It seems like it should be a lesser charge than that.

 

It could be, but probably would be manslaughter if charged at all.

This wasn't in her home, but in his home, regardless of what she thought. Certainly not a crime of passion, and it certainly wasn't accidental to shoot him. Did she have reasonable fear? I'd say no.

 

Hopefully her record of being a quick draw is allowed to be considered. Two shootings in 4 years as a cop is relevant information. Otherwise she will get 2 years max.

 

If that's the standard, then you better make sure whoever you shoot can't speak so you can come up with your own narrative.

 

Well, I'm not a lawyer. And the prosecutor is. And I don't have access to all the available facts, and the prosecutor does. So maybe I shouldn't play armchair quarterback. My philosophy -- not my legal understanding -- is that if you're going to kill somebody, you better know what you're doing and be doing it for the best possible reasons.

But your question relies implicitly on castle doctrine, I think, in assuming that the citizen has extra leeway in using lethal force in their own home. She wasn't in her home, so I don't see why any leeway should be extended. If she was at the mall and shot a guy coming out of Avery because she was so confused that she thought he'd broken into her home, do we decrease her culpability? The question of whether a 'reasonable person' in her situation would have cause to fear for their safety would come up in a murder trial. But a reasonable person would never be in this situation. A reasonable person would immediately recognize the apartment was not theirs. And, I don't know, maybe that reduces her legal culpability in that she was so out of sorts that she doesn't know where she is. But it is a travesty, a gross negligence, and a threat to public safety to have such a person carrying around a badge and a gun.

 

seems to me that unless the man she shot opened the door holding a gun, she’s in big trouble. Just a sad, sad event all around