A Miami woman killed a teen burglar as he fled her home, police say. Should she be charged?
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D. Morgan
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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.
Seventeen-year-old Travon Johnson died Thursday night after Jenrette shot him once as he allegedly fled the scene of the home invasion, according to Miami-Dade police. There have been no indications that Johnson was armed.
The slaying of the teenage burglary suspect was reported triumphantly by local television station WSVN, which said Jenrette had “turned the tables” on Johnson.
“Police say this would-be robber chose the wrong home because this homeowner did more than just call the cops,” reported WSVN’s Brandon Beyer. “She had a gun.”
But Johnson’s family said the young man didn’t deserve to die over mere property, which they said he hadn’t even taken.
“I don’t care if she have her gun license, her rights or any of that. That is way beyond the law,” Johnson’s cousin Nautika Harris told CBS Miami. “Way beyond.”
The law on home invasions and use of force, however, varies widely from one state to the next. Similar cases across the United States have produced starkly different outcomes, with some homeowners who shot intruders charged with manslaughter or even murder.
The Miami shooting comes at a crucial moment in the debate over gun control in this country. In January, President Obama announced new executive orders to combat gun violence, angering gun rights advocates. And amid an incessant string of mass shootings, states continue to expand their open-carry regulations.
As violent crime edged up last year for the first time in decades, America appears divided over whether increased gun ownership is part of the problem or the solution.
Over the past two years, a handful of U.S. homeowners have been charged for fatally shooting intruders.
Charges are even less likely in Thursday’s shooting in Miami.
Johnson’s family made an impassioned claim that the teenager deserved justice, despite the circumstances of his death.
“He was not supposed to die like this,” Harris, his cousin, told CBS. “He had a future ahead of him. Trevon had goals. He was a funny guy, very big on education, loved learning.”
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.”
She and other family members said that Jenrette did not need to shoot Johnson, especially since police were on their way.
“If she called the police already why would she shoot him?” Harris told CBS.
There is little clarity in the reports of what happened that afternoon after Jenrette rushed home. It’s unclear whether Jenrette called the police or whether they were automatically called to the house by the alarm system. A police statement said she “arrived prior to the officers and began to inspect the exterior of the home, when a confrontation occurred with the burglar. The homeowner produced a firearm and shot the subject.”
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.”
“The police told her don’t go in the house,” Vaughan Johnson, Travon’s brother, told WPLG. “She’s still going in the house searching for something. Then she says this lady came out and shot one time and shot him in the chest.”
“What’s wrong with her,” Johnson’s sister, Nisha Johnson, told CBS. “She did not have to shoot him.”
Police arrived moments after the shooting and tried to revive Travon, but it was too late. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Johnson had been arrested earlier this year, although the charge was not disclosed because he was a juvenile, WSVN reported.
The state’s attorney’s office will decide whether charges will be filed against Jenrette. But Florida statutes provide some of the staunchest protections in the country for homeowners who confront intruders.
“A person is justified in using or threatening to use deadly force if he or she reasonably believes that using or threatening to use such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great ? harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony,” according to state law. “A person who uses or threatens to use deadly force in accordance with this subsection does not have a duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground if the person using or threatening to use the deadly force is not engaged in a criminal activity and is in a place where he or she has a right to be.”
But Florida law goes far beyond this “Stand Your Ground” law, which became the focal point in the 2012 shooting of another 17-year-old, Trayvon Martin, in Sanford, Fla.
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.”
That means that homeowners are presumed to have “reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great ? harm to himself or herself or another” whenever someone “unlawfully and forcefully” enters their house, essentially giving homeowners broad license to shoot at intruders.
Florida law also provides homeowners who shoot intruders with sweeping protections against civil lawsuits, meaning Johnson’s family is unlikely to receive a wrongful death settlement.
Police said Jenrette is cooperating with the investigation and accompanied officers to the station for questioning.
“She’s a person that is a little distraught because this is her home that someone obviously was in,” Ferrin told CBS.
He also asked citizens to let officers do their jobs, however.
“If there’s any type of situation that happens or they believe there’s a burglary at the home or any type of confrontation, dial 911. Have the police make that confrontation,” he said. “That’s what we’re here for.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/03/15/a-miami-woman-killed-a-teen-burglar-as-he-fled-her-home-should-she-be-charged/?hpid=hp_no-name_morning-mix-story-f-duplicate-duplicate:homepage/story
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.
Seventeen-year-old Travon Johnson died Thursday night after Jenrette shot him once as he allegedly fled the scene of the home invasion, according to Miami-Dade police. There have been no indications that Johnson was armed.
The slaying of the teenage burglary suspect was reported triumphantly by local television station WSVN, which said Jenrette had “turned the tables” on Johnson.
“Police say this would-be robber chose the wrong home because this homeowner did more than just call the cops,” reported WSVN’s Brandon Beyer. “She had a gun.”
But Johnson’s family said the young man didn’t deserve to die over mere property, which they said he hadn’t even taken.
“I don’t care if she have her gun license, her rights or any of that. That is way beyond the law,” Johnson’s cousin Nautika Harris told CBS Miami. “Way beyond.”
The law on home invasions and use of force, however, varies widely from one state to the next. Similar cases across the United States have produced starkly different outcomes, with some homeowners who shot intruders charged with manslaughter or even murder.
The Miami shooting comes at a crucial moment in the debate over gun control in this country. In January, President Obama announced new executive orders to combat gun violence, angering gun rights advocates. And amid an incessant string of mass shootings, states continue to expand their open-carry regulations.
As violent crime edged up last year for the first time in decades, America appears divided over whether increased gun ownership is part of the problem or the solution.
Over the past two years, a handful of U.S. homeowners have been charged for fatally shooting intruders.
Charges are even less likely in Thursday’s shooting in Miami.
Johnson’s family made an impassioned claim that the teenager deserved justice, despite the circumstances of his death.
“He was not supposed to die like this,” Harris, his cousin, told CBS. “He had a future ahead of him. Trevon had goals. He was a funny guy, very big on education, loved learning.”
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.”
She and other family members said that Jenrette did not need to shoot Johnson, especially since police were on their way.
“If she called the police already why would she shoot him?” Harris told CBS.
There is little clarity in the reports of what happened that afternoon after Jenrette rushed home. It’s unclear whether Jenrette called the police or whether they were automatically called to the house by the alarm system. A police statement said she “arrived prior to the officers and began to inspect the exterior of the home, when a confrontation occurred with the burglar. The homeowner produced a firearm and shot the subject.”
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.”
“The police told her don’t go in the house,” Vaughan Johnson, Travon’s brother, told WPLG. “She’s still going in the house searching for something. Then she says this lady came out and shot one time and shot him in the chest.”
“What’s wrong with her,” Johnson’s sister, Nisha Johnson, told CBS. “She did not have to shoot him.”
Police arrived moments after the shooting and tried to revive Travon, but it was too late. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Johnson had been arrested earlier this year, although the charge was not disclosed because he was a juvenile, WSVN reported.
The state’s attorney’s office will decide whether charges will be filed against Jenrette. But Florida statutes provide some of the staunchest protections in the country for homeowners who confront intruders.
“A person is justified in using or threatening to use deadly force if he or she reasonably believes that using or threatening to use such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great ? harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony,” according to state law. “A person who uses or threatens to use deadly force in accordance with this subsection does not have a duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground if the person using or threatening to use the deadly force is not engaged in a criminal activity and is in a place where he or she has a right to be.”
But Florida law goes far beyond this “Stand Your Ground” law, which became the focal point in the 2012 shooting of another 17-year-old, Trayvon Martin, in Sanford, Fla.
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.”
That means that homeowners are presumed to have “reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great ? harm to himself or herself or another” whenever someone “unlawfully and forcefully” enters their house, essentially giving homeowners broad license to shoot at intruders.
Florida law also provides homeowners who shoot intruders with sweeping protections against civil lawsuits, meaning Johnson’s family is unlikely to receive a wrongful death settlement.
Police said Jenrette is cooperating with the investigation and accompanied officers to the station for questioning.
“She’s a person that is a little distraught because this is her home that someone obviously was in,” Ferrin told CBS.
He also asked citizens to let officers do their jobs, however.
“If there’s any type of situation that happens or they believe there’s a burglary at the home or any type of confrontation, dial 911. Have the police make that confrontation,” he said. “That’s what we’re here for.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/03/15/a-miami-woman-killed-a-teen-burglar-as-he-fled-her-home-should-she-be-charged/?hpid=hp_no-name_morning-mix-story-f-duplicate-duplicate:homepage/story
Comments
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I hate thieves and he didn't have a bright future. Mf doing home invasion
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The user and all related content has been deleted.
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I saw the word home invasion. Therefore she shouldn't be charged.
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I know most family members have a very biased view of their family. Some also don't know all the ? said family member might be into so most of the time its best that they just keep quiet.
Like the dude who just shoot up the police station. His grandmother talking about that wasn't him and he didn't do it. Yet they got this ? on tape shooting and one of his fool ass brothers taping the shooting as well.
Just because somebody put a camera and microphone or tape recorder in your face doesn't mean you have to say something. There is nothing wrong with giving a "No comment" and keeping it moving. -
Stop stealing. ? that lil ? . You run up in my ? I'm shooting first and asking zero questions later.
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Lock her ass up. If he was fleeing like the report says, then there was no imminent threat to her life.
? her. -
This quote right here ? me the ? off.
“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.”
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Well, if a cop can shoot a fleeing suspect, why can't everyone?
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Shizlansky wrote: »This quote right here ? me the ? off.
“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.”
Exactly -
mryounggun wrote: »Lock her ass up. If he was fleeing like the report says, then there was no imminent threat to her life.
? her.
You sure, cause it also says they had a brief confrontation and he got shot in the chest not the back. -
He probably shouldn't have been shot in the back, but he shouldn't have broken into the house either. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.
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2 bad decisions that resulted in his death...stealing, especially from somebody's home, is unforgivable in the eyes of many but should the punishment be death is the real question?
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Will Munny wrote: »He probably shouldn't have been shot in the back, but he shouldn't have broken into the house either. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.
He wasn't shot in the back -
No sympathy for the dead, should not had your ass in somebody else house.
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2 bad decisions that resulted in his death...stealing, especially from somebody's home, is unforgivable in the eyes of many but should the punishment be death is the real question?
also add to the fact that she wasnt at home initially.. the alarm was tripped and she raced home... either her or the alarm company contacted the cops so help was enroute.. yeah dont think this is as black and white as "well he broke in a home ? em" -
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The woman should be charged. By all accounts of the law this should be a first-degree murder. In Florida it'll end up as manslaughter though.
Did you guys read the article? She wasn't home when it occurred. She raced home after being alerted by an app.
The tone of this article is bias as well. Home Invasion, no one was home for this. They didn't find a weapon on his person. It was a breaking and entering.
Florida's laws needs overhauls. -
Violating the sanctuary of a person home can make a person do crazy ? .
I know I wouldn't give a ? if someone was fleeing from my home. you just took my peace of mind after breaking in. And that ? hard to get back. -
From the article so some of yall can stop with the he was shot in the back talk. Just read the article
“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.”
“The police told her don’t go in the house,” Vaughan Johnson, Travon’s brother, told WPLG. “She’s still going in the house searching for something. Then she says this lady came out and shot one time and shot him in the chest.” -
Shouldn't be running up in people's homes..on the other hand if she wasn't there in the first place, perhaps she could have waited for the cops
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Black_Samson wrote: »So instead of blaming the home owner how about we blame the ? poor parenting?
Its not the homeowners fault that the kid broke in her home.
Of course you can't blame her for him breaking in...but her response is all her own and if some fact emerges to show he was running away then that's where shooting him becomes a crime to some because he's no longer a threat to you -
“Police say this would-be robber chose the wrong home because this homeowner did more than just call the cops,” reported WSVN’s Brandon Beyer. “She had a gun.”
The attitude of police allows citizens to do things like this without being reprimanded. A laid-back nature regarding loss of life.
I'm not going to comment on Johnson, he was a kid that didn't realize where he lived. And his family clearly didn't raise him properly. -
I'm convince most of you posters don't live in the real world, only in your own heads and the internet
So from the story we know:
She didn't chase buddy down the street and shoot him down.
She didn't follow him thru the complex and shoot him when he was getting the best of her
She didn't tie his hand behind his back and shoot him execution style
She was still on her property. Her home where here children sleep. She defended her castle and ain't nothing wrong with that
It's super easy to play Monday morning QB but the reality is, at the heat of the moment, she did what she had to do. ? all that' it's just property ? .' It was more than property to him just like it was more than property to her
Did he deserve to die? Of course not.
But I hate to say it so callously but buddy knew the risk. B&E has those type of outcomes. -
Do y'all own ? in here?
Breaking in someone house or car and seeing that person can make you lose it. Like seriously. -
The woman should be charged. By all accounts of the law this should be a first-degree murder. In Florida it'll end up as manslaughter though.
Did you guys read the article? She wasn't home when it occurred. She raced home after being alerted by an app.
The tone of this article is bias as well. Home Invasion, no one was home for this. They didn't find a weapon on his person. It was a breaking and entering.
Florida's laws needs overhauls.
A case in Miami were a guy had broke into a car and stole the CD player. The owner shot and killed the burglar. He was not charged with a homicide and ruled it self-defense/stand your ground.
It was argued that the bag of radios could have been a weapon or it was used as a weapon.
I don't think she'll get charged unless they can prove that he wasn't any threat to her.