An Oklahoma City homeowner was charged after he allegedly killed a squatter whom he found shacking up with a girlfriend inside one of his vacant homes.
Timothy Smith discovered Justin King in a bedroom with an unidentified woman in the residence in southwest Oklahoma City on May 1, according to KOCO.
The 59-year-old landlord, who was armed with a handgun and accompanied by his daughter, “engaged in an argument” with King, ordering him to leave the property on the 1500 block of SW 44th Street in the Rancho Village neighborhood, the Oklahoma City police said.
Police allege that Smith aimed the gun at King and fired, striking the squatter in the neck during the confrontation.
Smith told police that King had stepped toward him before the fatal shot, according to the outlet.
Smith and his daughter had arrived at the home that day armed as the neighborhood has been having problems with the homeless in recent months.
Smith defended his actions, admitting he didn’t see King with any weapons but that the suspected trespasser shouldn’t have been in the house in the first place.
“It wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t here,” Smith told police after the shooting, according to the outlet.
King was hospitalized for over a week after the shooting before he was pulled off life support on May 8. --->READ MORE HERE
An Oklahoma landlord is facing a manslaughter charge after fatally shooting a squatter he found in one of his homes.
Timothy Smith, 59, opened fire on Justin King, 42, in his property in Oklahoma City on May 1 when he discovered he was illegally living there, police say.
Smith reportedly told police that he and his daughter checked on the home because the neighborhood had been having issues with homeless people in the past, and he wanted to ensure it was empty.
Smith, who was not living in the home at the time, said he entered with a gun and confronted King when he found him in the back bedroom with a woman.
When he ordered King to leave, Smith claimed that King stepped toward him, so he aimed 'at the area' of the squatter and pulled the trigger, per court records cited by KOCO.
He hit King in the neck, and he was raced to hospital. He died a week later on May 8.
Criminal Defense Attorney Weighs In
Smith was initially arrested on charges of assault and battery with a deadly weapon. He was then charged with first-degree manslaughter after King died in hospital.
Smith has not yet entered a plea to the charges. He is being held at the Oklahoma County Detention Center.
While he will not plead until his arraignment, which has not been scheduled, criminal defense attorney Ed Blau said he believes Smith may look to claim self-defense.
However Blau, who is not representing Smith, said Oklahoma's Stand Your Ground laws may not apply to the landlord's case. --->READ MORE HERE
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