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Homeowner not yet charged for shooting
State getting details from Peorian who shot homeless man
May 7, 2003
By ANGELA GREEN
of the Journal Star
PEORIA - Authorities on Tuesday said they weren't sure if they would charge a 74-year-old man for shooting a homeless man he found sleeping on his property Monday morning.
Willie Venable, 1000 E. Wilcox Ave., is scheduled to appear in court June 3 on charges of aggravated battery and failure to possess a firearm owner's identification card. The case is still under review, and the Peoria County State's Attorney's Office has until the court date to decide if they will charge him, Assistant State's Attorney Dave Kenny said.
Police arrested Venable shortly after the 6:10 a.m. shooting at 1411 W. Kettelle St., a house Venable owns that is currently vacant. He allegedly shot James Watkins Jr., 41, in the area of his knee in self-defense.
Regardless of whether Venable is charged, police had to arrest him until they straightened out what happened, Peoria police spokeswoman Ann Ruggles said.
"The case was still under investigation, and until we got some type of definitive story, we were being on the safe side," she said.
Venable told police he went to check on his house and found Watkins lying on a mattress in one of the rooms. He ordered him to leave, and Watkins stood up and reached down for something behind a wall, his hands out of Venable's sight, according to a police report.
Fearing that Watkins was reaching for a gun, Venable shot him with a revolver he carried. Watkins later said that he told Venable that he had to get his eyeglasses, and was shot as he reached down to retrieve them.
Venable told police he "was not going to take any chances because people get shot in this neighborhood all the time for nothing," reports said.
Break-ins have been a constant problem at the house, Venable said, and people get inside and use the place for illegal activity. The back door does not lock, and the window is broken from previous problems.
Watkins, who told police he is homeless, remained in fair condition at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center on Tuesday.
In a pair of recent incidents in which Peoria County residents shot intruders, the State's Attorney's Office decided against filing charges against the shooters.
In March, Charolette Gates fatally shot former boyfriend Christopher Winder, 27, as he allegedly broke into her South Peoria home a day after he was released from prison. He was later found dead in a nearby yard.
"Your home is your sanctuary, and if an intruder breaks in and gets killed, then too bad for the intruder," State's Attorney Kevin Lyons said then.
And in August 2000, a Rome man shot a pair of teenage burglars, fatally wounding one of them. Gary Koch, former owner of Mariner's Point, incorrectly thought William Campbell and a friend were holding a gun when he encountered them trying to open a cash register just before 4 a.m. in his restaurant. Koch also lived in the building that housed the restaurant.
The fatal bullet struck Campbell in the chest and struck 15-year-old Jacob Lukeheart in the shoulder. No charges were filed in the case, as Lyons ruled it a justifiable homicide.
http://www.pjstar.com/news/local/g167647a.html
State getting details from Peorian who shot homeless man
May 7, 2003
By ANGELA GREEN
of the Journal Star
PEORIA - Authorities on Tuesday said they weren't sure if they would charge a 74-year-old man for shooting a homeless man he found sleeping on his property Monday morning.
Willie Venable, 1000 E. Wilcox Ave., is scheduled to appear in court June 3 on charges of aggravated battery and failure to possess a firearm owner's identification card. The case is still under review, and the Peoria County State's Attorney's Office has until the court date to decide if they will charge him, Assistant State's Attorney Dave Kenny said.
Police arrested Venable shortly after the 6:10 a.m. shooting at 1411 W. Kettelle St., a house Venable owns that is currently vacant. He allegedly shot James Watkins Jr., 41, in the area of his knee in self-defense.
Regardless of whether Venable is charged, police had to arrest him until they straightened out what happened, Peoria police spokeswoman Ann Ruggles said.
"The case was still under investigation, and until we got some type of definitive story, we were being on the safe side," she said.
Venable told police he went to check on his house and found Watkins lying on a mattress in one of the rooms. He ordered him to leave, and Watkins stood up and reached down for something behind a wall, his hands out of Venable's sight, according to a police report.
Fearing that Watkins was reaching for a gun, Venable shot him with a revolver he carried. Watkins later said that he told Venable that he had to get his eyeglasses, and was shot as he reached down to retrieve them.
Venable told police he "was not going to take any chances because people get shot in this neighborhood all the time for nothing," reports said.
Break-ins have been a constant problem at the house, Venable said, and people get inside and use the place for illegal activity. The back door does not lock, and the window is broken from previous problems.
Watkins, who told police he is homeless, remained in fair condition at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center on Tuesday.
In a pair of recent incidents in which Peoria County residents shot intruders, the State's Attorney's Office decided against filing charges against the shooters.
In March, Charolette Gates fatally shot former boyfriend Christopher Winder, 27, as he allegedly broke into her South Peoria home a day after he was released from prison. He was later found dead in a nearby yard.
"Your home is your sanctuary, and if an intruder breaks in and gets killed, then too bad for the intruder," State's Attorney Kevin Lyons said then.
And in August 2000, a Rome man shot a pair of teenage burglars, fatally wounding one of them. Gary Koch, former owner of Mariner's Point, incorrectly thought William Campbell and a friend were holding a gun when he encountered them trying to open a cash register just before 4 a.m. in his restaurant. Koch also lived in the building that housed the restaurant.
The fatal bullet struck Campbell in the chest and struck 15-year-old Jacob Lukeheart in the shoulder. No charges were filed in the case, as Lyons ruled it a justifiable homicide.
http://www.pjstar.com/news/local/g167647a.html
