Miami woman killed a teen burglar as he fled her home, police say. Should she be charged?

Here is a perfect example of how the system is not perfect. I want to hear the view points of ATS- I am holding my opinion for now. The lady lives in a high crime neighborhood, installs some cameras;

when the alarm went off and (I assume she self monitors) she rushes home (the police are purportedly en route as well) she takes the Law into her own hands and shoots the would be robber as he is running AWAY from the home he just broke into.

Is he deserving of the punishment so soon after the crime? Is she just as much of a criminal? Will she be prosecuted (due to being a minority) to the full extent of the Law? Lets hear it ATS!

GWendolyn Jenrette can be forgiven for putting security cameras around her modest Miami home.
She lives in Liberty City, a high-crime neighborhood in a high-crime town.

Her low-slung duplex backs onto the railroad tracks and has been targeted in the past. She can also be forgiven for racing home when, on Thursday afternoon, her security system alerted her to another break-in at the property.

But can she be forgiven for, according to police, fatally shooting a teenager as he fled her house, even as officers were on their way to help? That is the question now facing the state’s attorney’s office.

L I N K

a reply to: ReadLeader

If he's fleeing, unless he's got your 6 month old kid under his arm, I'm not sure how you condone a back shooting.

Facing me with a weapon, something different.

On my property, it's a push. It would be very contextual. You couldn't, for example, make it off my land fleeing my house from either Chez Bedlam or the Bedlam Family Farm before I could pop you, unless you're the Flash. If you're a misguided hunter, I'll guide you off the well-marked property. I don't mind people riding bikes or four wheelers across. You have burglary tools and start whittling on the barn or shop door with an axe, you're likely to have a bad day.

a reply to: ReadLeader

Yes, with the minimal sentence possible. A murder is a murder, better solution will always exist.

a reply to: Bedlam

Just curious if they found a weapon on the deceased?


All great points Bedlam, thanks for posting!

a reply to: ReadLeader

Dunno, she shot him in the back as he fled. He wasn't an imminent threat to her life at that point.

Not prosecuting sends a message to homeowners.

Hey, just bang away.

Its Miami. Treyvon Martin was shot after he fled by George Zimmerman who got away with it.

originally posted by: PersonneX
a reply to: ReadLeader

Yes, with the minimal sentence possible. A murder is a murder, better solution will always exist.

Just to add: that women life wasn't threatened. It's a simple plain revenge, second degree murder.

Edit: 10 years it's minimum for that in Canada, and I find it long enough.

a reply to: ReadLeader

The original article, which the Washington Times uses as its source, gives a different impression.

They say that he was shot during a confrontation, not as he was fleeing.

Teen shot dead after confrontation with homeowner during suspected burglary.

But for argument's sake, lets say he was fleeing when he was shot.

This is always a very difficult question to answer. It depends on the specific circumstances of each case.

If the criminal is 10 blocks away and is then hit by a bullet, the homeowner/resident should have probably shown restraint.

But if it happens more suddenly as the criminal is first discovered, I have a hard time blaming the homeowner/resident.

The main problem is that the homeowner/resident is forced into a situation which he or she never asked to be in. A stranger is now in their home and they have no idea what he or she wants.

Does the criminal want to rape them, kill them, simply steal their property? The homeowner/resident is nervous, scared and frightened... You cant blame them for not making a perfectly calculated decision under these circumstances.

a reply to: ReadLeader

The law is pretty clear in Florida.

There is the stand your ground law.

If your life is in danger you have the right to defend yourself.

In this case I don't see how her life was in danger if the kid was running away.

I think she will be and should be charged with something if she indeed shoot the teen while her life was not in danger.

BTW this happened maybe 15 minutes from where I live.

Other news reports quoting police said she “went room to room” searching the house before finding Johnson, according to WSVN.

“She observed a subject exiting the home through the rear,” Miami-Dade police spokesman Daniel Ferrin told the television station. “At that point there was some type of a quick confrontation.”

Instead, in Florida, anybody who “unlawfully and by force enters or attempts to enter a person’s dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle is presumed to be doing so with the intent to commit an unlawful act involving force or violence.”

Looks like she was well within her rights. Shame a young man had to die, but at the same time he shouldn't have been busting into people's homes.


Something else that's bothering me is this:

Johnson was a student at D.A. Dorsey Technical College, barely a block away from where he died. He also lived in the same neighborhood, and his cousin said Liberty City shared some blame in his death.

“You have to look at it from every child’s point of view that was raised in the hood,” Harris said. “You have to understand … how he gonna get his money to have clothes to go to school? You have to look at it from his point-of-view.”

How's he going to get his money for clothes and school?! Is that supposed to be some justification for breaking into people's homes and stealing their belongings? Surely there's an afterschool job somewhere in Miami...

a reply to: EternalSolace

This was the point of my previously posted thread on this topic
www.abovetopsecret.com...

a reply to: ReadLeader

I will say, I've twice in civilian life had to use firearms to detain trespassers, never had to shoot one yet.

The sound of a 12 gauge pump at close range in the dark is as close to the 'brown note' as exists.

a reply to: gladtobehere

Whooooooooooo another 17-year-old Trevon , also this is odd,

The homeowner said when she arrived at her home, she saw Johnson attempting to break in. Investigators said the homeowner pulled up to her home and went room to room.


Good find Glad!!!

Thanks for posting!

a reply to: eluryh22

Whoops, didnt see your post in the search anywhere.

a reply to: Bedlam

I had a friend that had to grab his shotgun as well.

He was in his room when he heard some glass break in the living room.

He grabbed his shotgun and racked it when he was exiting his room.

What he saw was a guy jumping back out his broken window really fast.

Another link

miami.cbslocal.com...

The 54-year-old woman told police her surveillance system alerted her to the break-in of her home. She said she rushed home and found the teen climbing out of a window.

“She observed a subject leaving the home through the rear,” said police Det. Dan Ferrin.

Miami-Dade police said there was a confrontation and shots were fired. Police said they were on scene seconds after the shooting and gave CPR to the teen. Johnson was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

a reply to: EternalSolace

That part really bothers me too. After my family moved to the US, we lived in a really bad neighborhood riddled with violence and crime. I never understood the people and their culture; my family was just as poor but we never committed any crimes, my parents worked really hard and we eventually got out of that hellhole. I would never break into someones house just because I don't have something. The people who defend this disgust me, they are the problem. People need to stop sympathizing with crooks and those who have no character. These people will continue to exist as long as we, as a population, coddle them, excuse their ignorance, and give them excuses like "oh they are poor so what else can they do?" Being poor in terms of wealth is not an excuse for poor character.

That being said I would need more information before I could condemn the shooter. How close to her was the guy when she shot him in the back? If far away that is one thing, if nearby, well, an altercation very well may have been in the process of occurring. Either way, can't say I will shed a tear for the criminal who died after breaking into someones house. People make choices in life and he chose very poorly and reaps the consequences thereof. Had he not been violating someone else's space and life ad belongings with his criminal behavior, he would still be well and alive. Shouldve thought about that.


Also those calling him a kid.. really?!

If the teen was fleeing with stolen goods, then she shouldn't get charged.

Or if she felt threatened, as if they would come back again to harm, then she shouldnt be charged

a reply to: intrptr

It's really a shame. The young should never die before their time.

If I were in the woman's shoes, it would be tempting to take the law into my own hands. After all, how dare they enter my home. Wish there was more information about what happened in the home when she confronted the boy. I see her actions being more emotionally-based. She didn't have to kill him. And she did disobey the police who told her not to enter the home. She may see some consequences.

a reply to: ReadLeader

Unless you (or someone else) are in immediate or inevitable physical danger, shooting and killing someone is rarely justified, IMO...if ever, but I don't want to deal in absolutes.

I can see shooting someone coming into your home while you are there (and threatening harm), or even when they're coming onto your property if there is evident intent to hurt or kill you or someone on the property. But, that said, if someone has burglarized your home and is fleeing, you don't shoot them.

And if anyone uses the flimsy defense of claiming that, maybe next time, that criminal could hurt or kill someone, that's what the police are for. If they're competent, they'll find evidence, then the criminal, then punish them. I'm not a fan of those who use firearms as vigilante justice on fleeing suspects.

Plus, if you're too emotional to properly wield and use a firearm, you really should think twice about owning one...or about getting better trained.

a reply to: PhantomOrion

The young shouldn't be breaking into peoples homes and committing crimes, hastening their own demise. None of this would have happened had this guy followed simple societal standards and laws. Period. The true shame is the behavior of the criminal in this case and that there are those who will defend it, thus allowing for this to continue. With his death we did not exactly lose an outstanding citizen or someone who was going to contribute anything to our society, only take from and leech off of others, if his behavior is any indication.