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Real Child Protection
January 6, 2012 permalink
Oklahoma mother Sarah McKinley was on her own after the cancer death of her husband. When intruders seeking her husband's meds broke into her home she called 911, then killed one of them with a shotgun. The other fled. Her baby son Justin remained unharmed.
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Mom kills intruder after 911 says 'do what you have to do'
Sarah McKinley, 18, and her son Justin stand in the living room of her mobile home on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012, in Blanchard, Okla.(AP / The Oklahoman, Steve Sisney)A teenage mother in Oklahoma who asked a 911 operator for permission to shoot an intruder, before killing him with a 12-gauge shotgun blast, will not be charged.
Sarah McKinley, 18, clutched her toddler with one hand and a shotgun in the other as she hid in her mobile home on New Year's Eve.
Her husband had died from lung cancer on Christmas Day. Police say two men targeted her home because they believed she would have her husband's prescription medication.
When McKinley heard someone trying to break into her home, she called 911 and asked: "Is it OK to shoot him if he comes in this door?"
In an audio tape released to media, the dispatcher can be heard responding: "Well, you have to do whatever you can to protect yourself. I can't tell you that you can do that, but you have to do what you have to do to protect your baby."
She opened fire and killed 24-year-old Justin Martin, who was armed with a knife.
In an interview with The Oklahoman newspaper, McKinley said she saw a flash of metal in Martin's hand and thought it might have been a pistol.
"Obviously when somebody breaks into your house with a deadly weapon, they're not here for anything good," she said.
Another man, 29-year-old Dustin Stewart, was allegedly with Martin at the time and ran away when he heard the gunshots. He has been charged with first-degree murder -- police allege he helped plan the robbery, ultimately making him responsible for Martin's death.
In Oklahoma, residents are legally allowed to use deadly force against intruders.
"Our initial review of the case doesn't indicate she violated the law in any way," Assistant District Attorney James Walters told The Oklahoman newspaper.
Source: CTV
