03-01-2014, 10:37 AM
(11-29-2013, 02:48 PM)Duchess Wrote: This shit is outta control. It's happened again. Such a sad story -
Ronald Westbrook rang the doorbell of a home at 4am on Wednesday after wandering around in the dark for almost four hours in rural Walker County, Georgia, wearing just a light jacket and a straw hat in the cold 20 degree temperatures.
Joe Hendrix, 34, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, who had moved into the house two weeks earlier with his fiancé, went outside to confront the man carrying his handgun.
The sheriff said the dispatcher who stayed on the phone with Hendrix's fiancee wasn't aware Hendrix went outside the house with a handgun.
When Westbrook didn’t react to his verbal commands, Hendrix fired four shots, one which hit him in the chest, killing him.
Story
UPDATE: NO CHARGES TO BE FILED
District Attorney Herbert "Buzz" Franklin said he could press charges only if investigators could prove that Hendrix was not acting in self-defense when he pulled the trigger.
"It's a difficult burden to meet," Franklin said. "You have to be able to prove what was in their mind at the time of the act. All the circumstances here could lead one to reasonably believe that Mr. Hendrix was acting in self-defense."
The outcome brought no solace to Westbrook's family. "I'm a little upset," said Deanne Westbrook, the slain man's widow. "...I really wanted to see it go before a grand jury, and then maybe before a jury. But they tell me there's not enough evidence for that."
The shooting was preceded by a series of chance events, even a missed opportunity.
About a week before Westbrook was shot to death, Hendrix's fiancee called the cops on a man who came to her door with a paper and a flashlight looking for someone who apparently used to live there. She sent him off, but it made her nervous. She called 911 and called Hendrix, who got a gun and headed for the house, but the man was gone when Hendrix and police arrived that time. IMO, Hendrix probably mistakenly assumed Westbrook was that same guy (who'd also committed not one damned crime).
Earlier in the evening that Westbrook was killed, a resident had called LE to report a confused man roaming around with a flashlight. An officer followed up and talked to Westbrook who told him that he just lived up the driveway. Apparently the cop left (the story is vague on the details of that encounter).
Ref: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/charg...t-22720813
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To say that the cards (and laws) were stacked against the veteran and dementia sufferer Ronald Westbrook on the night of November 27th is a vast understatement, IMO.
RIP.
