Woman, 87, opens fire; killing suspected burglar, police say

[Jeff White]

I'll bet no charges are filed, even if it turn out she didn't have a FOID card.



http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...96C7CA87F06142748625710F001F7068?OpenDocument

Woman, 87, opens fire; killing suspected burglar, police say
By Doug Moore
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/07/2006

EAST ST. LOUIS

Jacksie Mae King told police that she woke up about 2 a.m. Tuesday to the sound of someone trying to get into her small house on Gaty Avenue.

King, 87, reached for the pistol that her daughter had given her two months earlier after a man broke into the house, beat King, stole some items and fled.

King could not use the telephone to call for help Tuesday morning. The intruder had ripped the telephone wires from a power box before removing security bars on a window to get into her enclosed porch. He then began removing a storm door to get to the front door of the house.

Police said King fired several shots through the door.

The man on the porch, Larry D. Tillman, 49, was hit in the right shoulder, the bullet traveling through a lung and lodging in his spine. Tillman, who lived about seven blocks away, died on the porch.

"She couldn't call for help and was afraid to go outside," said Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Jim Morrisey. "She didn't know she had hit him. She sat in a chair and kept an eye on the front door with pistol in hand."

For nearly four hours, Tillman lay dead on the front porch. About 6 a.m. King's daughter, Pamela Paulette-Clark, showed up to bring her mother breakfast and entered the house through a rear door. She saw the pistol.

"Her daughter came in and said, 'What's going on?'" Morrisey said.

King, who has lived in the Gaty Avenue house since she was a girl, is doing fine and staying with family, police said.

Robert Shay, St. Clair County chief deputy corner, said it appeared the fatal shot came from a .38-caliber Colt revolver. Morrisey said it had not yet been determined whether King had a permit to own the pistol. It will ultimately be up to the St. Clair County state's attorney's office on whether to bring charges against the woman for the fatal shooting, but Morrisey sees it as unlikely.

"To make it justified, you have to be in fear that somebody is entering your house against your will and you fear that it will result in bodily harm," Morrisey said. "In this case, I don't think there is a problem with that."

The incident Tuesday was similar to one at King's house in December. In both cases, the telephone power was cut and security bars were removed from the porch. But unlike Tuesday, a man made his way into the house in December and beat King badly and robbed her.

No charges were ever filed in the earlier case. Morrisey said evidence taken from the December home invasion would be compared to the break-in on Tuesday to see if Tillman was responsible for both crimes.

Tillman's criminal record is extensive and goes back to 1979. It includes at least two convictions for residential burglary and a robbery conviction.

 

[ingram]

Good shoot!

 

[SomeKid]

If they do bring charges on her for the lack of FOID, she would make a pretty good case for the FOIDs being unconstitutional.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Tillman, who lived about seven blocks away, died on the porch.

I'll bet it'll be awhile before he tries that again.

 

[C. Rabbit]

Bwhaaat? You mean he didn't take the gun out of her hands and then use it against her? She must be one of those super-grannies.

CR

 

[Malone LaVeigh]

You have to have a permit to have a pistol in your HOME in St. Louis?

I don't ever want to hear anyone talk about California again...

 

[TexasRifleman]

You have to have a permit to have a pistol in your HOME in St. Louis?

I don't ever want to hear anyone talk about California again...

No kidding! That's gotta be right up there with DC and NY.

Someone from MO wanna 'splain what that's about?

 

[Jeff White]

Malone,
This incident occurred in East St. Louis, which is across the river in Illinois. In St Louis, you have to have a permit to have a pistol, you must go to your local sheriff's office and get a permit to buy a handgun. Each and every time you wish to buy a handgun. Yet Missouri is not one of those states that people bash as not being free enough.

Here in Illinois we have a Firearms Owners Identification Card. We've had it since 1968 or 69. You have to apply to the Illinois State Police, who then does a background check. After the check is done they forward you the card which is good for five years, although once they made a mistake and gave me one for six years. The cost is $5.00 plus the aggravation or getting a photo etc.

It's illegal for any Illinois resident to possess any firearm, ammunition or now a taser without having a valid FOID card. So yes, you have to have a permit to keep a handgun in your home.

There are no semi-auto or magazine bans in Illinois like in California. No class III or CCW.

Jeff

 

[tellner]

The planet will continue to rotate perfectly well without him

 

[Jeff White]

Update

There is always a thorough investigation, no matter how good the shoot looks initially.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...30254EC42E0EDD9B862571100019A6F0?OpenDocument

Police will check 87-year-old woman's story in shooting
By William Lamb
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
02/08/2006

EAST ST. LOUIS

Illinois State Police investigators said Wednesday that they have every reason to believe that Jacksie Mae King, 87, was justified in firing a shot through her front door that struck and killed an intruder early Tuesday.

Even so, Master Sgt. James Morrisey said that investigators would spend two weeks or so examining ballistic evidence before presenting the case to Robert B. Haida, the St. Clair County state's attorney, who would determine if criminal charges are warranted.

"Based on the evidence that we saw yesterday and the interview with (King), it would appear that she was justified in defending herself," Morrisey said.

Police said that King awoke about 2 a.m. Tuesday to the sound of someone trying to break into her house in the 2100 block of Gaty Avenue. Two months earlier, King's daughter had given her a pistol after a man broke into her house, beat her and stole some items. King told police that she grabbed the pistol and fired several shots through the front door at a man who had removed security bars to get on to her enclosed porch.

One of the bullets fatally wounded Larry D. Tillman, 49, who lived nearby.

King couldn't call for help because her telephone line had been cut. Her daughter, Pamela Paulette-Clark, discovered Tillman's body when she came by at 6 a.m. to bring her mother breakfast.

Morrisey said that investigators were examining evidence from the earlier home invasion at King's residence to see if Tillman was involved. Tillman had a long criminal history, including two convictions for residential burglary.

"We'll take any evidence that was collected from the home invasion and we'll compare that with what was collected yesterday to see if Mr. Tillman was involved" in both incidents, Morrisey said.

Neither King nor Clark could be reached on Wednesday.

Haida said that a homicide can be considered justified under Illinois law if a person believes "that they are in imminent threat of harm" or if an attacker uses "some sort of weapon or object to cause great bodily harm or death."

Haida said he would take the matter under advisement after the State Police sends the case to him for his review.

"I don't want to prejudge anything," he said. "We have an obligation to judge the facts carefully."

He added: "If Jim Morrisey and his office suggest that there should be no charges, that won't dictate the outcome but certainly we won't overlook their opinion."

 

[El Tejon]

Self-defense shootings by the non-FOID holding elderly are not prosecuted even in Chicago.

 

[fistful]

In St Louis, you have to have a permit to have a pistol, you must go to your local sheriff's office and get a permit to buy a handgun.

I believe the permit is to buy, not to "have." If you legally obtain a handgun in another state or by some other means, so far as I know, no permit is required.

Yet Missouri is not one of those states that people bash as not being free enough.

Are any of them free enough? Unlike Illinois, no permit or license is required for long guns.

 

[odysseus]

King could not use the telephone to call for help Tuesday morning. The intruder had ripped the telephone wires from a power box before removing security bars on a window to get into her enclosed porch. He then began removing a storm door to get to the front door of the house.

It's interesting that I read more and more of this cutting of telephone/power wires. Since the perp lived nearby and and probably knew that there was an elderly woman living there, it might be safe to assume he knew she might be there and did this to prevent alerting authorities. Scary stuff if she could not defend herself.

 

[Malone LaVeigh]

Self-defense shootings by the non-FOID holding elderly are not prosecuted even in Chicago.

But I wonder if they will take her gun away from her now, and leave her defenseless. For her own good, of course.

 

[El Tejon]

Malone, yes, they take the gun and leave her defenseless. Good reason to have guns off your property (that whole buy 4 thing of mine).

 

[Jeff White]

Malone,
Unfortunately it's illegal to possess any firearm or ammunition without a FOID card if you live in Illinois. So unless she has a valid FOID card, they won't return her gun to her.

Someone should be helping her get her FOID card. The process isn't difficult, it's just time consuming.

Jeff

 

[Red Tornado]

The permit to buy a pistol is a bit of a pain, but it's not any harder than it has to be. Obviously just having it makes it harder than it has to be, but you get my point. You fill out a short form basically, name and address. There's also a line for why you're buying the gun, but you can put anything on this line. (At least down here. In StL, I don't know.)

Then go outside, have a smoke while they do a check, go back in and give them $10, they give you a permit (form) and a free gunlock (they'll even give you 2 free gunlocks if you ask). Give the form to your dealer when you buy it, and he takes care of filling it out and sending it in.

It's annoying to have to drive to the Sheriff's office, but it's quick and easy once you're there.
RT