Stay off my lawn!

Status
Not open for further replies.
V

Vex

Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2004
Messages
413
Location
Central Ohio
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/20/boy.shot.ap/index.html

Neighbor charged with killing teen who walked on his grass

Monday, March 20, 2006; Posted: 9:08 p.m. EST (02:08 GMT)

BATAVIA, Ohio (AP) -- A man who neighbors say was devoted to his meticulously kept lawn was charged with murder in the shooting of a 15-year-old boy who apparently walked across his yard.

Charles Martin called 911 on Sunday afternoon, saying calmly: "I just killed a kid."

Police, who released the call's contents, said Martin also told the dispatcher: "I've been harassed by him and his parents for five years. Today just blew it up."

Larry Mugrage, whose family lived next door, was shot in the chest with a shotgun. The high school freshman was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Martin, 66, allegedly told police he had several times had problems with neighbors walking on his lawn. He remained jailed without bond Monday. His jailers said no attorney was listed for him.

Neighbors said Martin lived alone quietly, often sitting in front of his one-story home with its neat lawn, well-trimmed shrubbery and flag pole with U.S. and Navy flags flying.

Joanne Ritchie, 46, said Mugrage was known as "a good kid." She said she always also considered Martin to be friendly.

Union Township is near Batavia, about 20 miles east of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Click to expand...

Can you grow a lawn in prison? Ohh, I wonder... what's the right size shot for teenagers on your lawn?
 
Actually, the only safe bet is to slaughter the entire block. Chances are one of them had thought about walking on the lawn at one point or another.
 
A neighbor and I are not on the best of terms and have not been for a couple of decades. I stay out of his face and he stays out of mine. If I had children, they would understand not to go in the man's yard for balls, frisbees, or whatever. If there were any chance of their misunderstanding or ignoring this, I'd move.

The man is responsible for his actions and his actions sound like voluntary manslaughter at the very least. However, from what I understand there was a history of friction between the shooter and the family of the teenager among others. The dead teenager's parents should have had enough foresight to forbid their teenage son to trespass on neighbor short fuse's property. If the parents in fact had such a discussion with their son and he ignored the parental guidelines, then we're also dealing with a Darwin award here.

An important facet of survival is the ability to identify people who have short tempers and poor self control and then to avoid proximity as far as possible.
 
Charles Martin is so disconnected from reality, and he's a murderer and another etch for the side against responsible gun owners. He deserves to spend the rest of his life in a small cage, and when not in the cage, extreme hard labor. Hopefully he lives to toil and suffer for the next 10-20 years.
 
Lawns across America can rest easy tonight because of the vigilant actions of a lone crusader for justice... yeah, right.
 
So he was on the 5 year plan, eh?

I speak to my neighbors about once every 10 years. This keeps me on very good terms with them. Lots of smiles, nods, and waves... Just the way I like it.
 
Tragedy for everyone involved, including each and every one of us.

I understand the above attempts to decompress, but if there's a lesson in here somewhere it is to stay in contact with other folks and use the full range of tools that society has developed to deal with day to day issues.

Mental illness is a very real problem and we need to get better at identifying and dealing with it before stuff like this happens. If you know someone who is depressed or who has anger control issues or bipolar disorder, please do what you can to help them rather than disengaging and reading about them later. It isn't easy but can save lives.

This isn't intended as criticism. Human nature is to avoid that which we don't understand, but in an urban setting it's a recipe for disaster. This is one more link the media can draw between firearms and the death of a 15 year old.
 
When I was a kid, I remember this old guy we had for a neighbor named Hank. Now Hank was real proud of his lawn, spent all kinds of money on keeping it nicer than any golf course you could think of. He had the best riding lawn mower money could buy at the time, even though his lawn was about the size of a postage stamp. Ol' Hank would really get upset at me and my friends if we even looked like we were thinking about walking on it, and cuss us out. Other than that, he was a real nice guy.

Fast forward to today. I live on a corner lot and mow my grass once every 2 weeks (whether it needs it or not). Yeah, living on a corner lot means that sometimes kids will cut accross your yard. Whenever one does, and I start to get a little upset about it, well, I just think of Ol' Hank!
 
So either this old guy was sitting on his front porch with the shotgun, itching to shoot anyone that steps on his grass...

Or the kid was caught, told to get off, refused, and the old man got his shotgun and blasted the kid.

Either way I can't feel the least bit of sympathy for the old man, but its possible the kid was tempting fate. :scrutiny:
 
I think that I would've tried a live-trap before going to the shotgun.
Biker
 
I have a neighbor who has grandkids, my property consists of some 5 acres, theirs is close to the same size. They are ardent hunters, decent people by and large but they have no respect for their neighbors. When the grandkids arrive, the 4 wheelers are fired up for the very young GKs, they are placed on the machines and neighbors on both sides of them are fair game for the continual ride until bedtime/dark. They avoid rideing on their own property, instead they prefer to ride on my place and the other neighbors place. It gets very old, very quickly. I fear them having a accident on my property and then sueing me, recently, after a hard rain, three 4 wheelers were busting the low lieing areas wide open and rutting the lawn that is difficult enough to mow without the added ruts. I approched the neighbors with a request for it to end. They were obviously displeased that their neighbors didn't find favor with their little darlings. They called off the grand kids and other than a few tracks left when I'm away it has been relatively peaceful since. There is a coldness to there attitude since then but I can bear that much better than the cross country races I once put up with.
 
I just heared about this story on my radio. Here is the article from CCN.com. I just don't understand some people. He is one of the people who give the Bradybunch arguments agains't guns. :fire:
 
However, from what I understand there was a history of friction between the shooter and the family of the teenager among others. The dead teenager's parents should have had enough foresight to forbid their teenage son to trespass on neighbor short fuse's property. If the parents in fact had such a discussion with their son and he ignored the parental guidelines, then we're also dealing with a Darwin award here.
Click to expand...

Wow I dont know what to say.:rolleyes:

There is absolutely no way to justify shooting someone for walking on your lawn, no matter how many times you asked him not too, or what his parents may have told him.

The old guy is obviously mentally disturbed, but premeditated this act, so 1st degree murder for him. He can put a no trespassing sign on a chia pet in prison.
 
Times have really changed. Back in the old days he would have just peppered the kid's rear end with rock salt and the town would have had a silent chuckle. :evil:
 
This sucks. Every story like this gives credibility to the anti-RKBA argument that ordinary citizens can't be trusted to have firearms. And the wishy-washy reaction of some on fourms like this doesn't help, either.

K
 
Charles Martin needs to suffer the full weight of the consequences of his crime.

One is free to possess firearms for the defense of life, freedom, and property. One is not free to kill 15 year old children who walk on your grass. Gun owners should be at the front of the line calling for the punishment that this miserable excuse for a human being deserves.

(Also, remember that this is a public board. I would hate to see some of the "humorous" comments made here used against us.)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

S
  • Locked
Life term for killing teen who walked on lawn
2
Replies
42
Views
2K
SAG0282
S
nwilliams
  • Locked
Article: Jersey City Woman Finds Missile Launcher On Lawn
Replies
1
Views
480
Justin
Justin
H
  • Locked
Thug Culture and the idiots who tried to rob the Marine who had a knife
2
Replies
41
Views
3K
Aquaholic
A
D
  • Locked
Problem with the neighbor
2 3
Replies
66
Views
4K
PX15
P
B
  • Locked
Ohio Marine 'accidentally' shoots himself in the chest
Replies
4
Views
951
beckrodgers
B
Back
Top