Georgia "Stand Your Ground " Law Working Just Fine

Wandering man with Alzheimer’s disease mistaken for a burglar, shot and killed

The shooter, Joe Hendrix, is not facing charges for fatally shooting 72-year-old Ronald Westbrook, who tried to get into his northwest Georgia home early Wednesday. Authorities say Westbrook was lost and disoriented.

By Philip Caulfield / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Friday, November 29, 2013, 11:42 AM

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A 72-year-old man suffering from Alzheimer's disease was shot and killed outside a home near Chickamauga, Ga., on Wednesday.
A Georgia man shot and killed a 72-year-old Alzheimer's patient he mistook for a prowler outside his home, police said.
Joe Hendrix, 34, was not facing charges as of Friday for fatally shooting Ronald Westbrook, whom he found wandering in his backyard in Chickamauga sometime around 4 a.m. on Wednesday, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.
Authorities in the rural northwest Georgia town said Westbrook suffered from advanced Alzheimer's disease and was disoriented and possibly suffering from exhaustion when he rang Hendrix's doorbell and repeatedly jiggled his front door handle shortly before the deadly encounter.


Investigators work at a Cottage Crest Court home near Chickamauga where Joe Hendrix shot and killed Ronald Westbrook at around 4 a.m.
"This one house at the end of the cul-de-sac had a porch light on," Sherriff Steve Wilson told the Times Free Press. "I tend to think (Westbrook) was drawn to that light."
The tragic incident began sometime around midnight, when Westbrook and his two dogs left his home and walked some three miles in sub-freezing temperatures before ending up in Hendrix's neighborhood, where Westbrook himself once lived, Walker County authorities said.
At around 2:30 a.m., he was stopped and questioned by a deputy, but let go after he told the officer he was checking his mail, the Times Free Press reported.



Police said Westbrook had been walking around in the cold for hours when he went to Hendrix's home and began ringing the doorbell and jiggling the front door handle.
He eventually ended up on the porch of Hendrix's rented home on Cottage Crest Court, and began ringing the bell and turning the door knob, authorities said.
Hendrix and his fiancé were awakened at around 4 a.m. to the sounds of someone trying to get into the home and called 911, the newspaper reported.
Ten minutes later, Hendrix grabbed his .40-caliber pistol and went outside, where he spotted Westbrook behind the house.


So far, Hendrix was not facing any charges.
As Westbrook approached, Hendrix gave several “verbal commands" to stop, Wilson said, but Westbrook either ignored or didn't hear him, possibly due to his condition.
Hendrix fired four times and struck Westbrook in the chest, killing him.
Wilson said Hendrix has cooperated with authorities and was distraught over what happened.


Cops called the incident a tragic mix-up.
So far, it didn’t appear that he broke any laws by going into his yard.
Self-defense laws in Georgia allow someone to use deadly force if they feel threatened — known as the "stand your ground" law.
Wilsons said the incident was still under investigation.
"In my personal opinion, I believe that he should have stayed inside the house," Wilson told the newspaper.
"Did he violate any laws by exiting the house? No."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/wandering-man-alzheimer-mistaken-burglar-shot-killed-article-1.1532714#ixzz2mKeNGy91

 

Hmmmmm... the shooter is not facing charges. That means that the shooting, which was still under investigation at the time this article was written, appeared justified. So, what's your point, Little Joe?