Posted on 02/06/2002 5:25:58 AM PST by chuknospam
11-year-old shoots, kills assailant threatening his grandmother
By GWEN OBRIEN Tribune Staff Writer
SOUTH BEND When Tony D. Murry held a box cutter to Sue Gays neck Monday night, Gays 11-year-old adopted son ran upstairs at the home at 1348 N. Huey St. and grabbed a gun.
He hit the bottom of the stairs with the .45 and stood ready stance with the gun, said Gay with feet spread apart and her hands outstretched as if holding a handgun.
The boy shot one round and hit Murry, 27, in the chest, even though the man was shielding himself with Gay.
I dont know how he did that. One shot and he got him. Hes my little hero, Gay said of the grandson she adopted.
The fifth-grader may not have been just a lucky shot. This is a family that knows guns.
Before his dad died, theyd go target shooting. He knows theyre not toys and not something to mess with, Gay said.
Ironically, it was guns that Murry may have come for in the first place.
Murry demanded all the weapons in the house. Gays late husband was a weapons collector and Murry knew of the collection, said St. Joseph County Prosecutor Chris Toth, who said this was a case of justifiable homicide.
Gay said her daughter, who is the boys biological mother and currently in prison, was acquainted with Murry. Murry, or Casper as Gay knew him, would come by every couple of months to ask about Gays daughter. The two never dated, according to Gay.
Im not sure where they met. Probably in South Bend when she was off on one of her drug binges, Gay said.
In an arrest in November, Murry listed drug dealer as his occupation, according to booking records at the St. Joseph County Jail.
Im upset because she put us in this position. She didnt send him (Murry) over here, but he was one of her acquaintances. Im more mad at him though, Gay said.
Murry had been inside Gays house before Monday night and she trusted him. But this visit was different.
I know he was drunk. At first he wanted me to buy him booze. Then he wanted me to drive him home. I dont leave my house after dark, Gay said.
Gay said Murry had been at the house for about a half an hour. She said she asked him to leave at 8 p.m. because she needed to go to bed. She normally leaves for work at 3 a.m.
He got irritated and asked for a drink of water. When I was in the kitchen he held the razor knife (box cutter) to my sons throat and said This is not anything personal, Gay said.
Then Murry rushed up behind Gay and held the box cutter to her throat, she said.
He told me, Take me to where the guns are. He pushed me through the kitchen and into the front room, Gay said.
Gay stopped at the love seat, put her left foot on it and pushed back on Murry, she said.
I pushed up so he couldnt push me forward any more, and I tried to push his hands down off my neck but he had a tight grip. I called for my son to say call 911, Gay said.
Thats when the boy appeared with the gun. Murry ducked his head behind Gays small frame. Some of his torso was left unshielded.
Im looking down the barrel of a gun thats in an 11-year-olds hands. I knew that if he pulled that trigger I was going to die, Gay said.
But Gay was not hit. She said they didnt immediately know Murry had been shot.
Casper went for the front door, turned the handle and went out of the house. My son ran to me and set the gun down. I hurried up and locked the door and called 911, Gay said.
South Bend police found Murry, of 2009 W. Linden Ave., outside the home. He died in the emergency room at Memorial Hospital.
The young man reasonably believed his mother and himself to be in danger of dying. It was clear to us this was a justifiable homicide, Toth said.
He did what he had to do. Thats an unfortunate burden for an 11-year-old to have on him, he said.
Murry had a criminal history. Between 1993 and 2001 he had several misdemeanor arrests.
Murry had a theft conviction from 1994 and a conviction for attempted theft in 1993, which was treated as a misdemeanor.
Murry had been convicted of unarmed robbery for which he received a four-year prison sentence in 1997.
At the time of his death, Murry was charged in two Class D felony auto theft cases pending in St. Joseph Superior Court. He was scheduled to appear in court Feb. 26 for a possible guilty plea.
Meantime, Gay said after 23 years at 1348 N. Huey St., she is putting the house up for sale and moving with her son out into the county, where her fiance lives.
Gay said the boy is doing well since the shooting.
Hes proud of himself. He feels bad he took a human life. But he didnt want to lose me. He lost his dad three years ago to a heart attack, Gay said.
Tribune Staff Writer Marti Goodlad Heline contributed to this article.
Staff writer Gwen OBrien: gobrien@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6333
Good shooting lad.
The boy shot one round and hit Murry, 27, in the chest, even though the man was shielding himself with Gay.
I dont know how he did that. One shot and he got him. Hes my little hero, Gay said of the grandson she adopted.
The fifth-grader may not have been just a lucky shot. This is a family that knows guns.
Before his dad died, theyd go target shooting. He knows theyre not toys and not something to mess with, Gay said.
This pretty much sums it up!
I'm impressed as hell - and he should be damn proud of himself for doing "what needed to be done".
I don't think so.
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