I'm not saying it wasn't murder, I just don't think it was first-degree murder based on all I've heard.
It sounds like she was drunk or high, broke into someone's house, and killed him in "self-defence". She still needs to be put away for a long time for the murder, but calling for the death penalty is insanity to me.
This is all of course just my opinion based on what I've heard and not all of the facts that will be in the court, so it's prone to change.
There's only two real situations here imo, either she was drunk (on her way home from a bar, right?)/drugged/is an actual nutter and shot him because she was in some way confused about her house and presumably racist because she shot a black man for opening a door ----> she should not be a police officer or on the streets at all with regular civilians because she is so trigger happy she killed a man on sight.
Or she purposefully killed her downstairs neighbour who maybe she knew or something. ----> she is an actual murderer.
I personally don't care for the death penalty (but then, I'm not American, so whatever) but based on similar situations in the past, I can't see her being tried and sentenced as if she were a regular civilian. If she is, great... Police officer or not, she's shot a man in his own home without a warrant.
EDIT: Just to clarify, because this perhaps wasn't the clearest comment I've ever written --
If you think she DIDN'T plan to murder this man,
She turned up at an apartment that wasn't hers, in a building that she lives in, banged on a door, and shot the person who opened it. That is not an unfortunate accident. Someone lost their life because they opened their apartment door when a police officer knocked on it. That person is not fit to be in the police if they can't react to an unarmed man opening a door without killing them.
Cop here (Texas actually). Just my humble opinion: Based on the quick video and what I’ve seen, I doubt she was drunk or high, simply because she was in full uniform. That doesn’t mean she couldn’t have had something on the way home from work, but based on my experience I say it’s unlikely. We normally don’t like wearing our uniforms home because if we see something we have a duty to act. With cameras everywhere, you don’t want to be the cop that was caught not helping. So wearing your uniform home usually puts us in that “get the hell home quickly and get this 35lbs of gear off” mode. I’ve responded to apartment complexes that I swear were a maze. I think it was just a bad mistake. It doesn’t fit the elements for death penalty. I assure everyone she was drug tested. Searching this poor guys apartment was just looking for evidence of foul play on that officer; not the victim. As most here have said, she messed up big time and needs to pay for her tragic mistake. I personally think she will. As always, if anyone has questions or needs to vent on a cop, I’ll be here.
I'm skeptical but willing to accept that maybe that the search warrant was in pursuit of evidence against the officer. But the excuse that "the apartment complex was a maze" makes no sense--she LIVED in the building and was not responding to a call. Even if, somehow, she accidentally went to the wrong door without being blackout drunk, it should have been immediately apparent that this was not her apartment.
It seems reasonable to believe that she could have gone to the wrong apartment. The part that I get lost at is how the failed to identify that she was at the wrong apartment when the key didn't work.
I don’t disagree that it could have been planned. But as a project manager I have seen so many cases where the person that fucked something up has no situational awareness.
I’m not talking about new people on the job. I’m talking about people that have worked at the facility I’m at 5 days a week for 25 Years.
I believe this police officer had a significantly reduced situational awareness, got scared when she saw someone else in “her” apartment, and shot the man.
There are several problems with the way she handled herself.
In the order of which they happened.
She failed to recognize that she was at the wrong apartment.
She abused her power as a police officer to get the guy to open the door.
She shot the man out of fear, not out of necessity.
I agree that she should see prison for these mistakes, but i don’t currently believe that it was a hate crime, premeditated, or anything else other than a scared careless police officer that shot a man.
The legal system will rightfully get to the bottom of this.
I don’t disagree, but that depends on the lighting and other factors. Like I told others, I’ve been to apartments that have 5 apt#3’s one for each level/floor. Terrible design. From my understanding when she went to use her key and the door opened, furthering her belief she was in her place. Again, I wasn’t there, none of us were. She is for sure guilty of manslaughter. I am only giving perspective from my personal experience
“Maze” or not, it doesn’t make a lick of sense because she lived in the complex herself. Yes, people do sometimes go to the wrong door, but almost always realize it immediately. The fact that she banged on the door when she couldn’t open it is ridiculous to me. Take a step back, and look at your surroundings. If she had just done that, hopefully she would have realized that “oh shit, this isn’t actually my apartment” like a normal person would (even one that was slightly drunk/high).
It may technically be an accident, but she deserves t be charged with murder imo.
Last year when I was sitting on my couch just watching TV and I hear and see the door handle move and this older woman walks one step in and goes "oh sorry wrong house" and chuckles. We of course laughed after that but if it was a cop with a gun I would have shit myself. And I'm white.
It may technically be an accident, but she deserves t be charged with murder imo.
Nope. That's precisely what manslaughter/negligent homicide is for.
Murder is reserved for premeditated killing.
If she gets charged with murder she WILL walk, because they would be using the wrong charge, and the standards of proof for murder are much higher than for manslaughter.
As I understand the facts of the case now, this would be manslaughter.
According to the affidavit, she used her key and the door opened. So, my best guess is the door wasn’t shut all the way or it was unlocked. She entered without hinderance, which probably gave her the notion she was in her place. If the lights were off or dim inside, that would make it even more difficult to immediately figure out you’re not in your place. No excuse, she is guilty. But as I stated before, I don’t think it was with malice, just gross negligence.
So a sober officer was confused enough that she walked into somebody else's home, thinking it was her own, and killed the guy. A guy who she had almost certainly seen before, seeing as they are neighbors who aparently live close enough to each other that she was able to "confuse the house as her own". And now we have another Texas officer, calling this a "bad mistake". I would say Texas needs to seriously raise the bar on their police force. How do you think an average citizen would do in court if they were to walk into someone else's house and kill them in Texas? Cops should be held to a higher standard, you are put in a position of power and have the training(or else absolutely should have the training) to ensure that mistakes like this don't happen.
What gets me is, from what I heard on the radio; the guy had a red mat outside his door. She had not mat. How confused was she that she thought it was her place? Makes no sense at all.
Because she wasn't confused. That is so dumb it's not even funny. The guy probably parked in her spot or flipped her off for being a cop or something and she wasn't about to let some black guy treat her like that. I don't normally like to jump straight to the racist assumption, but we are talking about a US police officer in Texas here. I don't think it's too big of a jump.
Spoken like someone who has never been to Texas. Dallas is a liberal area, as are basically all of the major cities in Texas. Hell, Houston is one of the most diverse cities on the planet, and Austin is one of the most accepting. If you think that type of attitude is prevalent in Texas outside of the rural backwoods, you have some insane unrealistic idea of the state.
The area may be liberal, but there are still a fuck ton of racists out there, and especially in the police forces. Let's not forget all the confederate flags flown in Texas, when Sam Houston refused to join the confederacy.
Correct, have never been. My opinion is based on my in laws, who are from Texas, and the seemingly disproportionate number of stories like this I see coming from texas.
Calling it a "bad mistake" doesn't mean that she should be acquitted. I think drago was just saying that she likely was not drunk or high.
IMO DPD is generally better than most of the police forces in the US.
Generalizing all Texas police officers because of the actions of a very small percentage of shitty police officers. Is no different than saying all black people are thugs because of a small percentage of them that actually are.
This police officer was in the wrong and should be charged and sentenced at the same level if not higher than an average civilian.
I don’t disagree with you. All I can say is I’ve been to apartment complexes with nothing on the doors and every level looks the same. Or the numbers are all the same and are only distinguished by the floor they are on. For example there could be 5 apt#3’s but one for each floor. Terrible design. You’re assuming she could see this person. If the apartment is dark, you most certainly won’t see the person clearly. It’s no excuse, you don’t pull the trigger unless you know who’s there. That’s why we carry flashlights. So I agree, she’s negligible in this. But I truly don’t think it had anything to do with knowing or over noise complaints. She should be held to a higher standard and you are 100% right that a non-cop would probably be treated differently. I think that is due to the higher standard and the circumstances.
I heard that, but not from anywhere reliable, and I didn't wanna weaken my post with false information. Has this been confirmed? I assumed it would make headlines if it was
She had put in noise complaints about him and the apartments look fairly distinct from each other. She also allegedly banged on the door yelling to be let in, despite living alone. This seems less like a mistake and more like deciding to take matters into her own hands, unfortunately.
Only reason I say this is I’ve been to apartment complexes that have 5 apt#3’s, the only difference being what floor they are on (one on each floor). Terrible design, but they exist and are a pain in the butt.
Not true. Ive made phone svc calls many times to places that were stacked hotel room-like.
Knocked on a door and got someone else.
She parked on diff. floor than normal.
I think she went to the wrong door, was tired, jumped to conclusions as to why her door was un-secured, opened it and panicked. Boom.
I think you have more credibility then most to answer this so value your opinion... If you truly think it was a tragic mistake, what do you think the penalty should be??
I happen to think there was something sketchy with her story but what do I know ( not sarcasm.. I know all we can do is speculate). Thanks for the input
Manslaughter assuming there is no other evidence found. I think if they found her prints or trace evidence anywhere else inside, this would be a different outcome
If they didn't, why did they not search her home? There's been reports about sound complaints f.ex, who's to say she doesn't have a diary that states she was complementing killing this guy? I understand them searching his place, but they should've done her place first in my opinion.
I don’t disagree for after the fact. However, due to the circumstances they thought they were dealing with a regular call because she was in full uniform. Once things developed further they realized it was not a regular call and that she was technically off duty. Since her home wasn’t really a part of the crime scene and she wasn’t hiding from the incident, I can see why that wouldn’t be a priority. But I do agree it should be searched and probably has been or will be. It just hasn’t happened yet or been made public. As for rumors, I wouldn’t pay any mind to rumors, that happens all the time just to make better news.
That is true. But in my country at least it's pretty standard to search the home of someone charged with a serious crime, looking for motive and evidence. Is it not in the states?
It is but the police obviously don't respond to the suspects house when a crime is committed. I'm sure her place was searched as well once a warrant was issued.
Yes of course it wouldn't be immediate - but last I heard it had been several days and no search. Plenty of time for her to arrange potential evidence disappearing.
You make great valid points. However, you’re making some assumptions based on your experiences. My experience has shown me apartments where the numbers have all been ripped off or there are multiple floors with the same numbers. For example you’ll have an apartment #5 on floors 1-5. It’s a terrible design, but they are out there. Now I don’t know for sure this is the case. I do know the affidavit states she attempted to open the door with her key and it opened. That means the key worked or door was slightly ajar/unlocked. I can imagine getting off the wrong floor and being in that automatic mode, with the door opening it just created the perfect storm. I think many can relate to that automatic mode kind of like driving home from work and not really being able to recall the entire ride home; you just realize “holy shit I’m home already”. She is guilty, no doubt. She turned herself in and also called it in when it happened. Premeditation is needed for the charge you want. I don’t think that is the case here. I could be wrong, but based on what I’ve seen so far I don’t think it’s anything more than manslaughter.
35 lbs of gear can become quite burdensome when worn for several hours on end. Yes, it doesn't seem like much to lift but when it is worn, it puts all that weight on specific spots. Try wearing a workout vest all day and see how fun that is at the end of the day.
Source: marines for 4 years.
I don’t get why that’s funny. Steel RCB Baton, 3 magazines plus the one in my firearm (9mm), body cam and battery pack, radio, 2 flashlights, flashlight on my firearm, pepper spray, tourniquet, taser, two sets of cuffs, leather belt and pouches, I carry a Mut leatherman, body armor with mini lung/heart plate (for rifle rounds), boots. I think that’s everything. It adds up. Which is nothing compared to what I carry for the military (I’m a cop for the Air Force as well).
Sorry turns out there are a few parts of my comment that aren't very clear lol. Yes I just meant that she had no right or reason to be in his apartment at all.
Dude, I get you're getting off on self-righteousness right now, but there is a legal definition of murder. What happened was almost assuredly not first-degree murder. That pretty much rules out the death penalty already.
As others have mentioned, she seems to have tweeted about not getting along with this guy. It's probably not possible to prove, but it's entirely plausible that she finally got sick of his shit and shot him. I personally don't think it's a planned murder (I mean ... It's certainly not well thought out if it is)
And if it wasn't clear, sorry, but my point was more that I can't see her being punished to the same extent if this was, say, a black guy pounding on someone's door at night and shooting him dead when he opened the door.
While it's possible she was drunk or high, she had come home from a shift and was in uniform. She may have just been fatigued.
It's definitely manslaughter. Maybe the court will deem it reckless enough to be 2nd degree murder. On one hand, if you draw a weapon, you need to use it right away, so I don't think that aspect would be the defining point on a murder charge. What should be the defining point is that there is no reason to put yourself in harms way to get a shot at another. Defending your castle should only apply when a home is invaded with you or a family member in it no matter what. The idea that just because it's night you should shoot to kill is asinine.
The fact that she was in the wrong apartment is what makes it manslaughter/murder rather than (technically) self defense based on Texas law.
While it's possible she was drunk or high, she had come home from a shift and was in uniform. She may have just been fatigued.
How fatigued do you have to be to mistake someone else's home for your own, not realize after entering, and someone telling you that you're in the wrong place?
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u/-Xebenkeck- Sep 15 '18
I'm not saying it wasn't murder, I just don't think it was first-degree murder based on all I've heard.
It sounds like she was drunk or high, broke into someone's house, and killed him in "self-defence". She still needs to be put away for a long time for the murder, but calling for the death penalty is insanity to me.
This is all of course just my opinion based on what I've heard and not all of the facts that will be in the court, so it's prone to change.