Posted on 06/11/2014 4:02:53 PM PDT by digger48
PERU – Miami County prosecutors won’t bring charges against a man who they say shot and killed an intruder who attacked him with a baseball bat.
Andrew Baldwin used a handgun to shoot 30-year-old Donny Sturgill, Peru, on Saturday after he told deputies Sturgill smashed out a front door window and hit him with a baseball bat to collect money he owed him.
Baldwin told deputies Sturgill texted him and his roommate, James Bellar, saying he wanted $200 owed him for a phone bill. Sturgill said if he didn’t receive the money, he would go to their house and beat everyone there.
Baldwin said he feared Sturgill, who served prison time for an aggravated battery in 2001 and was also known to be a member of a prison gang called Maniac Latin Disciples, according to prosecutors.
Baldwin said he borrowed a gun from an acquaintance after receiving the text.
When Sturgill arrived at the residence on the 6400 block of North 400 West, in rural Miami County, deputies say he broke out the window and entered the home without invitation.
Baldwin was waiting in the living room, holding a 9 mm pistol, and told Sturgill to get out of his house, prosecutors said.
Sturgill then swung the baseball bat at Baldwin, which broke his arm. Baldwin responded by firing two shots at Sturgill, striking him in the pelvic area and the heart, prosecutors said.
Sturgill backed up, fell into a wall near a bedroom entrance, pivoted around the doorway and fell between the bed and the wall, prosecutors said.
Baldwin called 911 immediately after the shooting in an attempt to save Sturgill’s life, prosecutors said, and indicated he shot him because he did not want to be hit again.
Miami County Prosecutor Bruce Embrey ruled Tuesday the shooting was a justifiable homicide, citing the “castle doctrine,” which provides that a person may use deadly force to prevent or terminate an unlawful entry into his home.
Embrey also cited Indiana’s self-defense statute which states deadly force is justified when preventing serious bodily injury to yourself or someone else.
The Miami County Sheriff’s Department, Indiana State police and the Miami County Prosecutor’s Office conducted the investigation.
Embrey said his determination is subject to any new evidence that may come from future reports.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3165194/posts
In that thread, one of the people who know the perp created an account here(comment #19) to blast FReepers for their insensitivity and defend the recently deceased.
It's my hope they see this on Google and return to defend their comments and Sturgill, who they claim was a good guy who just got dealt a bad hand in life.
The previous article
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3165194/posts
“Sturgill had been arrested by deputies last year for allegedly stabbing a Denver man in the chest and face. He was arrested again in March on charges of domestic battery and criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon.”
It doesn't get much more clear-cut than that.
He gave the guy an opportunity to live, and he broke his arm.
I am wondering who in their right mind would loan a firearm to an acquaintance?
You have to be an idiot to borrow money from this guy...
An Update to the Sunday article I posted.
If any of you missed it, check out comment #19 from a friend of the guy.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3165194/posts?q=1&;page=1
To continue this thought: who in their right mind would sell a gun to a complete stranger who just walked into a gun store with money in hand?
If there is no law in Florida against such transfers, it is safer than the completely legal sale over the counter. Per Wikipedia, "Florida law permits private firearms transfers between residents without processing through a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL)."
This is Indiana. I understand the confusion.
He should have fired 1st and not let the perp break his arm with the bat.
But he looks like such a nice guy.
Looks like Donny was the salt of the earth according to his buddy, just don’t let him near a baseball bat. Don’t think his buddy had any of the facts.
Thanks for the ping.
A prison tattoo of teardrop under the eye means one thing. Yeah, a real nice guy.
Depends on how good the friend is, and the circumstances. Firearms that have no connection to me....and that is a right we have in Ohio, and I think also in Indiana.
How is this not "lying in wait"?
Dude, that thread was months ago. You need to find something to keep yourself occupied. Idle minds are the devil’s workshop.
“Kokomo Tribune ^ | June 11, 2014 | Carson Gerber”
Thread seems current to me.
Are you so dim that you don’t know those porn sites just scrape content from other sites it and post it as their own?
Interesting how you deleted the part about Mr. Baldwin telling Mr. Dead Guy to get out of his house.
Mr. Dead Guy had plenty of opportunity to not be Mr. Dead Guy
Mr. Dead Guy also broke Mr. Baldwin's arm before Mr. Baldwin shot him.
Was Mr. Baldwin supposed to wait until Mr. Dead Guy killed him before defending himself?
Well, OK, and the law. All you got on your side is facts and the law.
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