Drizzt
February 24, 2003, 07:27 PM
SANFORD - Assistant District Attorney Mike Beam will not bring charges against Paul Redmond, 56, of 1065 Sanders Road, in relation to an August shooting death at his residence.
Redmond shot Wesley Kelly, 50, of Texas, after Kelly forced his way into Redmond's home, according to Lee County sheriff's deputies. Kelly had reportedly been outside Redmond's home, repeatedly asking to come inside before he broke down the door.
Redmond had called sheriff's deputies two times before the shooting. He called back a third time to say he had shot Kelly.
The two men did not know each other.
"I felt like it was a valid claim of self-defense," Beam said. "It's always a tragedy when someone is killed, but I think it's safe to say (Redmond) took all the actions he thought were reasonable to defer the use of deadly force. It just came to the point where he felt he had to make a decision."
Beam said he had no indication that the shooting was connected to any other crime.
"There are no connections between this and any other activity, criminal or otherwise," Beam said.
According to initial reports, Kelly said before he was shot that he was trying to escape attackers.
"I don't know this guy. He's trying to tell me people were in the driveway trying to kill him. I looked out. Nobody's out there," Redmond told The Herald in August. "It's like he was in this trance or something. The guy was either having hallucinations or was high on something."
Beam would not go into detail as far as an explanation to Kelly's behavior.
"Until we dug deeper into this case, it was hard to understand why the victim took certain actions," he said. "They were explained, but it would not be appropriate to discuss them."
http://www.sanfordherald.com/articles/2003/02/21/news/news03.txt
Redmond shot Wesley Kelly, 50, of Texas, after Kelly forced his way into Redmond's home, according to Lee County sheriff's deputies. Kelly had reportedly been outside Redmond's home, repeatedly asking to come inside before he broke down the door.
Redmond had called sheriff's deputies two times before the shooting. He called back a third time to say he had shot Kelly.
The two men did not know each other.
"I felt like it was a valid claim of self-defense," Beam said. "It's always a tragedy when someone is killed, but I think it's safe to say (Redmond) took all the actions he thought were reasonable to defer the use of deadly force. It just came to the point where he felt he had to make a decision."
Beam said he had no indication that the shooting was connected to any other crime.
"There are no connections between this and any other activity, criminal or otherwise," Beam said.
According to initial reports, Kelly said before he was shot that he was trying to escape attackers.
"I don't know this guy. He's trying to tell me people were in the driveway trying to kill him. I looked out. Nobody's out there," Redmond told The Herald in August. "It's like he was in this trance or something. The guy was either having hallucinations or was high on something."
Beam would not go into detail as far as an explanation to Kelly's behavior.
"Until we dug deeper into this case, it was hard to understand why the victim took certain actions," he said. "They were explained, but it would not be appropriate to discuss them."
http://www.sanfordherald.com/articles/2003/02/21/news/news03.txt