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On Jan. 28 the DA announced the homeowner won't be charged with any crime in this tragic shooting. Good call on his part.
From the Jan. 29 Gazette:
Prosecutors have cleared a Colorado Springs man in the Dec. 28 fatal shooting of a local golf pro who was drunkenly trying to break into the man's home - apparently believing he was locked out of his own apartment.
James Parsons of 3212 Virginia Ave. will not be charged because his actions were protected under Colorado's "Make My Day" law, which holds that "citizens of Colorado have a right to expect absolute safety within their own homes," the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office said in a statement.
The law applies when intruders illegally enter someone's dwelling with the intent to commit a crime or harm someone.
Twenty-two-year-old Sean Kennedy - drunk and shouting obscenities - had broken out a window in the back door and was reaching inside to unlock it, giving Parsons the "reasonable belief" that he and his girlfriend were in danger, prosecutors said.
Two dogs inside barked persistently and the couple shouted for Kennedy to leave in an ordeal lasting more than four minutes, all of which contributed to Parsons' sense of mounting danger, prosecutors said.
"A reasonable person in those circumstances would have believed that (Kennedy) was going to do a crime against them or property," said newly elected District Attorney Dan May, who oversaw the review of the shooting upon taking office Jan. 13.
May said it is well-established under case law that breaking a window and reaching inside constitutes breaking and entering.
"That's not unique to Colorado," he said.
The shooting - which the police branded a tragic mistake - happened just before 10 p.m.
Kennedy had been drinking at a local golf course and his blood-alcohol level of 0.26 was more than three times the legal limit of 0.08 for driving in Colorado when he pulled up outside Parsons' house in his pickup. Friends and family members believe he thought he had arrived at his own home, which he shared with roommates at 3212 N. Institute St., one block to the west at the same house number.
Parsons and his girlfriend saw Kennedy get out and approach the front door. He began shouting and pounding on the door before going around back.
Parsons' girlfriend, who identified herself only as Betsy, detailed Kennedy's attempts to get inside during a frantic 911 call asking for help. Before the shooting, she cried: "Oh My God, he's coming in the back door," and then, "Are they on their way because - oh my God, he broke in the glass!"
The first shot was fired at 4 minutes, 22 seconds into the 911 call, followed by several more.
"Get the ambulance! I shot him," Parsons shouted in the background. "He broke his arm in the window and he was coming in the house!"
May said that Parsons fired three shots from his .38 Special, although the audio recording of the shooting appears to capture four gunshots. Two bullets went through Kennedy's arm and into his torso, May said.
Investigators determined that Kennedy forced open a screen door and then smashed one of four window panes in the storm door and was reaching to unlock the deadbolt.
May said that evidence matched up with "spontaneous statements" that Parsons and his girlfriend made to a 911 call-taker: Glass was found inside the home, indicating the window was broken from the outside, and there was blood on the screen door.
The bullets passed through the broken window, May said.
"The evidence from the dispatch tape and from investigative interviews indicated that they were both terrified during this incident and were traumatized by these events," May's office said in a written release.
Kennedy worked at Patty Jewett and Kissing Camels golf courses after graduating from Coronado High School in 2004. He did not have a criminal record, and his parents, Grant and Lisa Kennedy, said that police detectives acknowledged that Kennedy believed he was entering his own home.
The call-taker urged Parsons' girlfriend to stay away from the door while officers were on their way. According to police call logs, the first officer was dispatched at 9:51 p.m. and arrived around the time of the shooting, at 9:54 p.m. The second officer arrived one minute later, at 9:55 p.m.
Parsons did not respond to requests for an interview, and Kennedy's parents did not return a phone message as of Tuesday evening.
On Jan. 28 the DA announced the homeowner won't be charged with any crime in this tragic shooting. Good call on his part.
From the Jan. 29 Gazette:
Prosecutors have cleared a Colorado Springs man in the Dec. 28 fatal shooting of a local golf pro who was drunkenly trying to break into the man's home - apparently believing he was locked out of his own apartment.
James Parsons of 3212 Virginia Ave. will not be charged because his actions were protected under Colorado's "Make My Day" law, which holds that "citizens of Colorado have a right to expect absolute safety within their own homes," the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office said in a statement.
The law applies when intruders illegally enter someone's dwelling with the intent to commit a crime or harm someone.
Twenty-two-year-old Sean Kennedy - drunk and shouting obscenities - had broken out a window in the back door and was reaching inside to unlock it, giving Parsons the "reasonable belief" that he and his girlfriend were in danger, prosecutors said.
Two dogs inside barked persistently and the couple shouted for Kennedy to leave in an ordeal lasting more than four minutes, all of which contributed to Parsons' sense of mounting danger, prosecutors said.
"A reasonable person in those circumstances would have believed that (Kennedy) was going to do a crime against them or property," said newly elected District Attorney Dan May, who oversaw the review of the shooting upon taking office Jan. 13.
May said it is well-established under case law that breaking a window and reaching inside constitutes breaking and entering.
"That's not unique to Colorado," he said.
The shooting - which the police branded a tragic mistake - happened just before 10 p.m.
Kennedy had been drinking at a local golf course and his blood-alcohol level of 0.26 was more than three times the legal limit of 0.08 for driving in Colorado when he pulled up outside Parsons' house in his pickup. Friends and family members believe he thought he had arrived at his own home, which he shared with roommates at 3212 N. Institute St., one block to the west at the same house number.
Parsons and his girlfriend saw Kennedy get out and approach the front door. He began shouting and pounding on the door before going around back.
Parsons' girlfriend, who identified herself only as Betsy, detailed Kennedy's attempts to get inside during a frantic 911 call asking for help. Before the shooting, she cried: "Oh My God, he's coming in the back door," and then, "Are they on their way because - oh my God, he broke in the glass!"
The first shot was fired at 4 minutes, 22 seconds into the 911 call, followed by several more.
"Get the ambulance! I shot him," Parsons shouted in the background. "He broke his arm in the window and he was coming in the house!"
May said that Parsons fired three shots from his .38 Special, although the audio recording of the shooting appears to capture four gunshots. Two bullets went through Kennedy's arm and into his torso, May said.
Investigators determined that Kennedy forced open a screen door and then smashed one of four window panes in the storm door and was reaching to unlock the deadbolt.
May said that evidence matched up with "spontaneous statements" that Parsons and his girlfriend made to a 911 call-taker: Glass was found inside the home, indicating the window was broken from the outside, and there was blood on the screen door.
The bullets passed through the broken window, May said.
"The evidence from the dispatch tape and from investigative interviews indicated that they were both terrified during this incident and were traumatized by these events," May's office said in a written release.
Kennedy worked at Patty Jewett and Kissing Camels golf courses after graduating from Coronado High School in 2004. He did not have a criminal record, and his parents, Grant and Lisa Kennedy, said that police detectives acknowledged that Kennedy believed he was entering his own home.
The call-taker urged Parsons' girlfriend to stay away from the door while officers were on their way. According to police call logs, the first officer was dispatched at 9:51 p.m. and arrived around the time of the shooting, at 9:54 p.m. The second officer arrived one minute later, at 9:55 p.m.
Parsons did not respond to requests for an interview, and Kennedy's parents did not return a phone message as of Tuesday evening.