WHO'S TO BLAME? - MAN SHOOTS BOY IN DAUGHTER'S ROOM

[HairOfTheDog]

Weird and sad story.


17-year-old Johran McCormick. RIP.

Early yesterday morning, McCormick was snuck into a 16-year-old girl's room in Harris County, Texas.

Her brother went into the room and saw two feet sticking out from under the bed and told his dad.

Dad reportedly went into the girl's room and asked the girl who the boys was, to which his daughter lied and replied, "I don't know". Dad called 911 and argued with the boy.

Dad claims the boy then moved his hand, so he shot the kid. Johran was unarmed.

Johran died at the scene.


The girl's dad ^ (not being named) complained that he wasn't feeling well and was taken to the hospital having what appeared to be a panic attack.

Neighbors said the girl's parents seemed to be strict with her and constables said that dad seemed to be on a lot of medications.

No charges have been filed -- the case is going to be heard by a Harris County grand jury.

RIP Johran McCormick.

Refs:
http://www.khou.com/news/local/Deputy-co...41711.html
http://houston.cbslocal.com/2014/03/14/a...r-bedroom/
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national...-1.1721939

[Duchess]

Without knowing really any background I'd say the daughter is to blame. She should have spoke up & confessed he was her friend. Her lie of omission got her friend killed. Again, I'm saying this without knowing any details, you know how I am.

[ramseycat]

What a mess. The kid should not have been there to begin with. The daughter should have said who he was. But the father way overreacted by shooting him. If the kid had lunged at him ok, maybe. But he was clearly a kid. Unarmed. Hold him at gunpoint until the cops get there.

[ZEROSPHERES]

The Girl caused the boy to be perceived as an un-welcomed unexpected stranger/intruder and the father was correct to assume he might be armed and intend to do harm.

http://source.southuniversity.edu/castle...46514.aspx

Today most states have some kind of castle law. The stronger laws do not require homeowners to attempt to retreat before using force to protect their domicile, and there are a select few states that have very strong stand-your-ground laws allowing citizens to use force in their car or at work without first trying to retreat.

States like Texas allow citizens protecting their homes, car, or place of business or employment to use force – including lethal force – when an intruder has unlawfully entered or is attempting to enter using force; is attempting to remove someone from the home, car, or workplace by force; or is attempting to commit a crime such as rape, murder, or robbery. An attempt to retreat is not required before a citizen is justified in using force against the invasive party in Texas.

[HairOfTheDog]

Again, I'm saying this without knowing any details, you know how I am.

There aren't any more details available to the public than those in the OP yet.

I was just curious about initial reactions based only on what we know now.

For some reason, when I read the initial story, one of the first things that crossed my mind was "why did the brother have to run and tell dad? - little effin' snitch". But, I don't really think he's to blame.

The girl is definitely partly responsible in my book too, though. She set the chain of fatal events in to motion with her lie.

I find it hard to believe that Johran wouldn't have copped to knowing the girl and being invited by her into the home when faced with a fuming father with a gun. I wonder if he did cop to it and if he got shot in spite (or because) of it.

There are only the lying daughter, the shooting dad, and possibly the snitching brother as witnesses though, AFAIK (no mention of mom being present, as of yet). If it turns out that during the course of the argument, while waiting for 911 to arrive, it became clear to shooter dad that Johran was not an intruder and there was no sign or reason to believe he had a weapon, dad should be indicted and charged despite the Castle Doctrine.

[SIXFOOTERsez]

OK, I'll address the big fucking elephant in the room.
Anyone else notice that Dad appears to be a fat white guy and the dead kid is black?
Where the hell is Jesse and Al?
Got to say, based on whats been reported, this kid was asking to get shot.
Daughter is a fucking idiot too, no doubt, she Does have a black guy under her bed
How many white fathers in this country would have shot the black kid under the daughters bed that she purportedly doesn't know?
What is it with black folks and selfish in the bathroom? Just curious.

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, I don't think a black kid deserves to be shot any more than a white kid for sneaking into a girl's room - regardless of what color the girl is. But, I don't know yet if the dad acted justifiably under the law.

Anyway, I wasn't aware of any fucking elephants and the father sure looks black to me, Six.

If he is and his daughter is also black, does that change your answer? If everybody involved was white, would that change your answer?

I'm failing to see where color is a factor here.

[SIXFOOTERsez]

Its not a good pic, Dad may be black, I really can't tell, but looks like a dark guy with white features, your probably right.
No, I don't think the black kid deserves to be shot anymore than anyone else. Point was (that being the case) that it would be an aggravating circumstance.
Had it been my kid, and just from what was reported, I wouldn't have shot him. I would have beat the shit out of him, no matter if he was green. Color won't be a factor as long as they all match, but let one of them be out of sync...

SOme reason on the other computer the pics in the news articles were not showing up, so I recon color will not be an issue at all.
I think the dead kids mom is an idiot, "24 hours after...and still no apology"
Your kid got caught in someone house at 2am...

[HairOfTheDog]

You lost me.

What would be an "aggravating circumstance" and to whom?

Regarding Johran's mom, I thought it was a little odd that she'd be waiting for an apology, too. Everybody grieves differently, but not sure why she'd even want one.

[Maggot]

I would have made their lives miserable but would not even think about a gun. These people are on a scale of 1-10 intelligent level a -5 and may had eaten lead paint in their youth dropping that number even deeper into a sub-human level. But society is stuffed with them. And they walk among us.

[HairOfTheDog]

Johran's funeral was held today.

AFAIK, LE and media still haven't released the ID of the father and daughter, nor any more details about what went down the morning Johran was killed.

In a lot of cases where a 911 call is made, the dispatcher asks the caller to stay on the line if there is perceived to be imminent danger.

I'd imagine that a man calling to say there was an intruder in his home - in his daughter's room - would be such a case. Did the dispatcher hear the argument between Johran and shooter dad? Were the kids actually undressed in bed (making the likelihood that dad thought Johran had a weapon less believable, IMO).

I hope this dad, who was reportedly on all kinds of meds, didn't shoot Johran because he was pissed at the situation. If that's what happened, really hope there's some evidence to that effect and dad gets indicted.

[HairOfTheDog]

Should the girl be charged?

Snip:
Family, friends, and supporters of Johran McCormick, the Texas teen who was shot and killed by his girlfriend's father, want the girlfriend to be held accountable for her role in his death, reports CBS affiliate KHOU.

The Harris County Grand Jury will decide if the father will face charges, but many think the teen girl is also at fault, according to the station.

McCormick's family and supporters demand that Houston District Attorney Devon Anderson motion to file either one to two counts of accessory to murder, or involuntary manslaughter against the young girl who they say intentionally lied to her father, which led to McCormick's death.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/family-of-te...l-charged/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Very hard for me to believe that Johran didn't tell the dad that he knew the girl and was invited into the home when dad confronted him with a gun.

If the girl kept lying even then, she's extremely fucked in the head -- I completely understand why Johran's family and friends hold her partly to blame. But, not sure I agree that she should be charged as an accessory or with manslaughter.

Thoughts?

[Duchess]

I think she shares in being responsible for that kid's death. I believe she directly influenced what went down.

[BlueTiki]

This one is ripe for a wrongful death lawsuit.

[SIXFOOTERsez]

Yes she is very much to blame. The dead kid wasn't too smart either, one thing you don't do when your girlfriends dad holds a gun on you after catching you in her bedroom is be a smartass or make any stupid moves.
Dad gets some shit sammich too, he was right in a lot of ways, but there was no need to shoot.

[cannongal]

I find it hard to believe that Johran wouldn't have copped to knowing the girl and being invited by her into the home when faced with a fuming father with a gun. I wonder if he did cop to it and if he got shot in spite (or because) of it.

There are only the lying daughter, the shooting dad, and possibly the snitching brother as witnesses though, AFAIK (no mention of mom being present, as of yet). If it turns out that during the course of the argument, while waiting for 911 to arrive, it became clear to shooter dad that Johran was not an intruder and there was no sign or reason to believe he had a weapon, dad should be indicted and charged despite the Castle Doctrine.

I think that's probably why the girl kept lying, she probably figures if she told Dad she knew the boy, Dad would pull the trigger.

I'd be interested to know how strict he was as a parent.

[aussiefriend]

who knows who cares, a murderer is a murderer a slam duck

[SIXFOOTERsez]

slam duck?

[HairOfTheDog]

Yes she is very much to blame. The dead kid wasn't too smart either, one thing you don't do when your girlfriends dad holds a gun on you after catching you in her bedroom is be a smartass or make any stupid moves.
Dad gets some shit sammich too, he was right in a lot of ways, but there was no need to shoot.

All that's been reported is that a girl invited a boyfriend into the house, her 16 year-old-brother saw the boy in sister's room and told dad, dad (who was reportedly on heavy medication) confronted the couple with a gun, at which point his daughter reportedly lied to her dad about knowing and inviting the boy into the house, dad called 911 and argued with the boy, and dad ultimately shot the unarmed boy to death.

I don't understand why you're assuming that Johran was a smart-ass to the dad or made any stupid moves -- why are you sure that's what happened? And why are you sure that dad was right in a lot of ways -- what ways?

[Duchess]

I wonder what went down in a few minutes time. The Dad had time to make a phone call and given they argued they obviously had time to communicate.