Posted on 05/31/2006 7:40:15 AM PDT by grundle
Thomas Autry is a former Marine corporal, but he doesn't consider himself a brave man for fighting off five assailants, one of whom died.
The soft-spoken Autry was somber Tuesday afternoon, less than 24 hours after he was attacked late Memorial Day while walking home from work at a Midtown Atlanta restaurant.
"I'm sorry this whole thing happened. I hate this world has gotten to the point where it is predatory," said a shaken Autry, speaking briefly to reporters from behind the screen door of his Atlanta apartment.
Police say Autry, 36, acted in self-defense when he stabbed 17-year-old Amy Martin, who died of wounds to her chest. Another alleged assailant, Christopher Daniel, 18, was in critical condition Tuesday night with stab wounds to his upper torso.
The group was part of a teenage robbery crew that had struck twice this month, authorities said.
Prowling for a victim just after 11 p.m. Monday, the group might have mistaken the tall, thin Autry for an easy mark as the waiter walked home alone after finishing a shift at Jocks & Jills, police said.
But the Desert Storm veteran, cornered by his pursuers on Penn Avenue at 4th Street, fought back with a pocket knife.
More than his military training, Autry said, "what really helped me was growing up in New York."
He said he knew to stay alert on his long walk home and turned to investigate after seeing a white cat scurry across the street. That's when he saw his attackers piling out of a dark blue 2007 Cadillac, he said.
One of the teens carried a shotgun.
"My first instinct was to run," said Autry. "Those kids were younger than me. They caught me and cornered me. It was about life preservation."
Atlanta police homicide Detective Danny Stephens said that during the chase, Autry was trying to get into his backpack to get the knife, which slowed him down.
As he ran, Autry repeatedly yelled "Fire," which Stephens said attracted the attention of nearby residents, who called 911.
Cornered, Autry kicked the shotgun from the hands of one attacker and stabbed Martin and Daniel. Another suspect attempted to shoot Autry with a .380 pistol but it misfired, Stephens said.
The attackers ran back to the Cadillac and drove to Atlanta Medical Center, where police arrested them.
Police say Autry suffered a cut to his hand. His right index finger was bandaged but he declined to discuss his injuries.
Martin's 17th birthday was earlier this month. Relatives said she was dating one of the boys who was arrested. A 10th- grader at Grady High, Martin was scheduled to take a final exam in social studies Tuesday, relatives said.
Early police reports indicated Martin was pregnant but the autopsy concluded otherwise, according to the Fulton County Medical Examiner's office.
Autry sighed with relief after learning the teenager was not pregnant. "That really makes me feel a whole lot better that she wasn't with child," he said. "I'm sorry to her family. I just feel real bad at the situation."
The surviving suspects were identified as Kendall Barksdale, 17, of Atlanta; Christopher Hayes, 17, of Douglasville; a 16-year old whose name is being withheld because of his age, and Daniel, whose address was not listed. They were arrested on charges of aggravated assault and armed robbery.
Martin, nicknamed "Strawberry" for her sweet disposition as a young girl, had fallen "into a bad crowd," according to relatives who gathered at the southwest Atlanta apartment where she and her family lived.
Her stepfather, Chris Roberts, said Martin's death resulted from "her wrong choices in friends, and being in the wrong place, with the wrong people.
"She wasn't brought up that way," he said.
Martin's younger sister Kristie Roberts, 12, blamed Martin's boyfriend of three years, the youngest suspect in the group.
"She wouldn't have been in that car but for [him]," Kristie said.
The teen's stepfather chimed in: "I told her to stay away from these people who have no ambition but trouble."
Autry said he hopes the culprits can be rehabilitated and not just locked up.
He was clearly troubled by the attack. Concerned about his safety and that of his girlfriend, Autry had his door locks changed Tuesday and he asked to not be photographed.
Autry was honorably discharged in 1992 after serving in Operation Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia. When told that many people consider him a hero for his actions, Autry disagreed.
"The heroes are those guys out there fighting for us every day and not getting respect," he said, referring to military personnel fighting in Iraq and elsewhere. "That [killing the attacker] wasn't admirable, it was fight or flight — and I tried the flight."
I may not be a Marine, but I did grow up in NYC, which this Marine says is a more formidable credential.
Criminals, be very, very scared of wideawake.
Decent guy. Semper Fi.
This aroused my curiosity. I wonder if the car was "hot"?
God Bless him. I hope he is able to put this behind him and move on. What a terrible world we seem to live in. He called it a predatory world.....very true and sad.
God bless this poor guy. First he ran, then was cornered and forced to fight. Of course, since he prevailed, he'll probably be sued into the poorhouse by victims' relatives.
Bleh. She had her final exams on the street, in an attempted robbery.
She failed.
I'm just calling him "Sir!"
Good riddance.
Well, I don't think most normal 17 year-olds who rob people like this are in the market for a 2007 Cadillac.
Very sad, though I'm glad Autry was able to defend himself. I can't imagine how I'd feel, having to defend myself against thug teenagers and one of them - a female, no less - dying.
She had her final exam in anti-social studies
Real life lesson in crime, punishment, and criminal justice.
It definitely ain't cool to hear a gun go click when it's pointed at you. Happened to me after I'd had just about the same situation. Three guys, I'd just punched one and bounced the head of another off of a plate glass window. One of the first two had punched me but it was just a glancing blow. At that point I decided it was time to just run. Just another white guy walking through the Puerto Rican hood. ;-)
Not likely, but it's a hope.
17 and in 10th grade?
Looks like someone got left back, and now maybe left behind.....
"Strawberry" girl should have stayed home and studied instead of trying to rob some poor guy of his hard earned and honest money. You hate to think she got what she deserved, but in this case she did. The old saying of sleeping with dogs will give you fleas is still true, and robbing someone can get you killed is just as true. I hope her "friends" remember that in the future-after they serve a really long sentence. This is a hard lesson to learn, but she chose that path to her own death.
Hey, let's not forget who is the victim and who are the criminals here, okay? ;O)
They are playing clips of him speaking now. Seems like a nice guy that had no other choice. Best wishes to him. I predict he will have a new job soon also...in teaching self defense classes.
True story:
A friend of mine stopped at a sub/steak shop on his way home from a bar. As he is waiting for his steak sandwhich, a young would be robber comes in brandishing a gun. He makes the mistake at pointing it at my buddy.
When the robber looks away, my friend wrestled him to the floor and took his pistol away from him. He held him on the floor until the police arrived.
The police asked him why he would strong arm a guy with a gun? He says "He pointed it at me and did not use it."
One less bottom feeder on the street.
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