Houston woman says she killed man in self-defense

Houston Chronicle ^

[TigerClaws]

A south Houston woman said she was only protecting herself when she fatally shot a man at a service station.

"I didn't intend to hurt or harm anyone. I just went to the gas station to get gas," Shanequia McDonald said on Tuesday.

McDonald told Houston police she shot Lewis Daniel shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday at a Gulf station in the 6800 block of Cullen, between Griggs and the South Loop. The case will go to the Harris County grand jury to decide if any charges will be filed.

On Tuesday, McDonald was at the side of community activist Quanell X.

"She tried to walk away. What else was she supposed to do?" Quanell asked.

McDonald said she was pumping gas when Daniel, 58, approached her and began making sexual overtures.

"He's from around this area but personally, no, I don't know him," she said Tuesday.

[mellow velo]

Never bring an umbrella to a gun fight!

[Quickgun]

Yup...If there is anything worse than bringing a knife to a gunfight, it has to be fists..

[TigerClaws]

Ha!

But you have no duty to retreat from a situation is part of reasonable self defense.

She not only stands her ground but arms herself. If she was in fear for her life, she pops the trunk and walks toward the man to get the rifle?

He does, however, throw the first punch. It’s self defense, but this is far more a close call to manslaughter for me than Zimmerman’s situation.

Of course, he’s a white Hispanic so he gets away with it...

[marktwain]

The AD Council was created during WWII to push government propaganda. It should be eliminated.

[Roccus]

CG(?) voice-over description differs from article.

[DoughtyOne]

McDonald said she fired at the ground, hoping to scare the man off.

"She never intended to shoot directly at him," Quanell said. "She didn't know the bullet actually ricocheted and hit him."

McDonald then went home to tell her mother what happened. Only then was the Houston Police Department notified.

Parts of her story seem factual, but this is pure fabrication. He was shot four times.

She took a video of him on the ground. Gots to be able to show my peeps...

She may not get charged, but she may have been able to avoid this situation more than she admits to.

Didn't seem to me he was coming close until she pulled out the gun. Of course if he had a knife in his hand, she had the right to defend herself. I note that she turned her back on him for a period when she pulled the gun out of the trunk. The fact that she didn't keep tabs on him moment by moment tells me she wasn't exactly expecting him to attack at any second.

[VerySadAmerican]

She shot him more than once because she heard at the trial that after you shoot someone in the heart, he can keep coming after you for up to 15 seconds.

She didn’t get in the car and drive off because she wasn’t through filling her tank. Maybe she paid in advance.

[Charles Martel]

So Quanell says Zimmerman shouldn't be able to use stand your ground and it's evil in a march last week.
This week... ?

Piecing together the comments, it seems that Q-10 believes the law should apply here because "Poochie" was armed with a knife, whereas Trayvon was not. Like most of his ilk, Quanell doesn't care about the letter of the law - he just wants it to disproportionately benefit "his people" (and punish the white devils).

[TigerClaws]

Right. That’s my point re stand your ground.

She wasn’t fearing for her life, IMHO. She wouldn’t have passed right next to him to go to her trunk. She was just in a heated argument and decided to elevate it by retrieving a weapon.

She didn’t stay around for the cops to take her statement or for an ambulance to drive. She took a ‘trophy pic’ and drove off.

It’s very borderline self defense. I could see billing manslaughter here.

The attacker was likely drunk off his arse. Very common problem in the hood. Instead of blowing off the comments, however offensive, from a drunk, she argued back, armed herself, and shot him multiple times.

Perhaps... she’d seen the Zimmerman stories and figured ‘you hit me, you die’ is how it works. So let me grab that gun in the trunk!

[TigerClaws]

In something like 33% of the nationally reported cases where ‘stand your ground’ has been used (it was NOT used in the Zimmerman case), African Americans have been the ones claiming it.

So there’s a 2x or more of the national population average representation by AAs using this law.

In fact, Obama himself sponsored the ‘stand your ground’ law in Illinois in his brief stint as a legislator there.

They really want a compliant victim class of whites who hand over purses and wallets without making a peep, creating an easy path for criminals.

Actually stand up to the hoods and you risk being ‘Zimmermaned” from now on.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

There seems to be some disputed evidence that will need to come out in the grand jury.

Did she shoot just once or three times, and was the bullet a ricochet?

Description of his knife. Description of his umbrella.

He was alleged to have been harassing people with his umbrella before then.

Alcohol and drugs involved?

On the surface it seems to be a justified shooting, but that will be up to the grand jury to determine.

I do agree that her involving Quantrell X is not helping her case. She needs a lawyer, not an agitator.

[cunning_fish]

Justis 4 Lewis!!!....Nevermind.

[DoughtyOne]

Right. That’s my point re stand your ground.
Yes, and I believe you're right.

She wasn’t fearing for her life, IMHO. She wouldn’t have passed right next to him to go to her trunk. She was just in a heated argument and decided to elevate it by retrieving a weapon.
That was another indicator.  Good point.  I'd expect her to avoid him, and when getting into her trunk to get the gun, keep glancing back at him, to make sure he wasn't going to attack from behind.

She didn’t stay around for the cops to take her statement or for an ambulance to drive. She took a ‘trophy pic’ and drove off.
True, and when she lied about how many shots and that it bounced off the pavement, she really screwed herself.  Tell the truth and you may skate.  They start catching lies, and you're in deep trouble.

It’s very borderline self defense. I could see billing manslaughter here.
So could I.  I wonder what Grand Master Quanel X would be spewing if Zimmerman had done this.  It certainly wouldn't be the same tune he's singing now, that's for darn sure.

The attacker was likely drunk off his arse. Very common problem in the hood. Instead of blowing off the comments, however offensive, from a drunk, she argued back, armed herself, and shot him multiple times.
I agree with you.  I will add, you don't cold-cock someone holding a loaded rifle.  None the less, that's not exactly a capital crime.  He didn't knife her either.

Perhaps... she’d seen the Zimmerman stories and figured ‘you hit me, you die’ is how it works. So let me grab that gun in the trunk!
I may be way off base here, but I'm not convinced I'm so far off at all.  This is evidence of Black empowerment to me.  You're Black, you never back down, you don't let anyone treat you certain ways.  You go for the throat.

I'm not sure if you've ever had heated words with someone of this mentality, but once they get hopping mad, there's nothing you can say that will pacify them.  In fact, if you say something logical and decent it can increase the anger exponentially.

It's one thing to not let folks walk on you or treat you unfairly, but it's another to go so postal that you're basically a raving lunatic completely out of control.

She walked into this one IMO.  She escalated the situation by taking out the rifle.  And then sure enough, she determined that she was justified to use it.  Big mistake.  As others have said, she could have gotten back in the car and left.  The time used to get into the trunk could just as easily have been used to get back in the car and leave.

[marktwain]

All her attacker would have had to do was back off, even a little, after she told him to leave her alone.

But, no, he kept on coming after her, even after she armed herself. All the witnesses said he had a knife besides the umbrella, so it appears that the hand that he swung at her had the knife in it. It appeared from the video that he almost got her, and that is when she shoots, not before.

You may say that arming yourself with a rifle while being threatened by a man with a knife is “escalating” the situation. I call it prudent.

It seemed a prudent thing to do to take a picture of the man with the knife on the ground to document that he had been armed.

The big mistake that she made was driving off.

I think she will be “no billed”.

[Darteaus94025]

What Obama’s son would really look like:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KnTb-kJVDww

[Darteaus94025]

Meredith Hunter brought a gun to a knife fight. He died.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Meredith_Hunter

[Quickgun]

Wow, thats an unusual outcome,

[TexasRepublic]

Don’t ever make the mistake of standing between Quanell and a TV camera. That useless POS!

[Darteaus94025]

Not the one I would bet on, but it happens.

[1066AD]

Texas Law. Sections 9.31 and 9.32 apply here with 9.31(f) covering retreat.
If the guy had a knife out then he's the one that escalated it to a deadly confrontation so she would appear justified in her actions on the face of it. However she made a big mistake by just driving away altho' no doubt she perhaps still felt threatened.

With all the items about self defense etc in the news lately I bought a new book on it and found it very enlightening and more detailed than Ayoob's work. Its number is ISBN-10: 0988867702