Global Courant 2023-05-03 20:13:12
An Alabama mother shot and killed a man who was acting “crazy” and allegedly tried to burn down a house while the mother, her 8-year-old daughter and 80-year-old uncle were still inside the residence.
The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office said deputies reported to a home in the city of Grand Bay around midnight Saturday for a report of a single gunshot, WPMI reported. Upon arrival, they found Oliver Turner dead from a gunshot wound.
The home’s owner, 80-year-old Lee Eubanks, told investigators Turner was a friend who stayed with him for a few days. On the day of Turner’s death, he had been “drinking heavily and acting combative,” Eubanks told police, according to AL.com. He added that Turner was doing more and more “off the top of his head.”
Michelle Jones, who lived in the residence with her daughter, told police she came home Saturday night to find Turner acting belligerently, and also found the outside of the house on fire.
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A woman is holding a gun. (JC/TRA/Reuters)
She told police she tried to go to bed that night, but Turner allegedly dragged her into the bathroom and tried to pour acetone on her. She fled and put her daughter outside in her car.
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A road in Alabama where a man reportedly tried to burn down a family home. (Google Maps)
She ran back home to retrieve a revolver for protection, she told authorities. Upon leaving her bedroom, Turner reportedly approached her, and she fired one shot at him in fear for her life, AL.com reported.
“Not only the case of self-defense for her, but lethal force is justified under certain circumstances where you also defend others. And she did. She defended not only herself, but also her daughter and her … uncle was still in the house. He was determined to set the house on fire, that’s what she thought at the time,” Lieutenant Mark Bailey of the Mobile County Sheriff Office told WALA.
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The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office in Alabama. (Mobile County Sheriff’s Office/FB)
Investigators said they found scratches on Jones’ neck and a minor injury to Jones’ hand, consistent with what she told authorities in her statement.
The sheriff’s office said Tuner was no stranger to law enforcement, citing an extensive criminal history, including a 2021 arrest for first-degree arson.
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The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for updates on the case. Once the investigation is complete, the case will be brought before a grand jury, according to AL.com.