Neighbor not yet charged in shootings of two suspected burglars
A man who told police he planned to kill two men he believed were burglarizing his neighbor's house shot them only when they came on his property and he felt threatened, his attorney said Monday.
Tom Lambright, who represents Joe Horn of Pasadena, said his client was just going to take a look around when he went outside after hearing glass break at his neighbor's house. He had seen Miguel Antonio DeJesus, 38, and Diego Ortiz, 30, crawling into and then out of a window.
Horn went outside, armed with a 12-gauge shotgun, to see where the burglars were heading when he came face-to-face with them in Horn's front yard, Lambright said.
Horn is 61 and heavyset. The suspected burglars were young and strong enough to beat him to death with their bare hands, Lambright said. So when one or both of them "made lunging movements," Horn fired.
"He's trying to protect his own life," Lambright said. "He's scared."
Pasadena police were still compiling their report on the shooting and planned to present the case to Harris County prosecutors within the next two weeks, police spokesman Vance Mitchell said Monday. From there it is expected to be presented to a grand jury. In the meantime, Horn remains uncharged.
Lambright's description is partly at odds with the 911 call in which a dispatcher urges Horn to stay inside his house and not risk lives.
"Don't go outside the house," the 911 operator pleaded. "You're gonna get youself shot if you go outside that house with a gun. I don't care what you think."
"You wanna make a bet?" Horn answered. "I'm gonna kill 'em."
After the shooting, he redialed 911.
"I had no choice," he said, his voice shaking. "They came in the front yard with me, man. I had no choice. Get somebody over here quick."
Diamond Morgan, Diego Ortiz's widow and mother of their 8-month-old son, told Houston television station KTRK that she was stunned by Horn's comments on the 911 call.
"It's horrible," she said. "He was so eager, so eager to shoot."
Local activist Quanell X urged authorities to prosecute Horn.
"Mr. Horn did not have to kill those men," he said at a news conference last week outside of Horn's house. "We believe that Mr. Horn became judge jury and executioner at the same time."
Horn "literally went to pieces" after the shooting, Lambright said. He issued a statement a few days later saying the events would weigh heavily on him for the rest of his life.
He's doing better, however, as he reads letters and e-mails and hears radio broadcasts of people supporting his actions, Lambright said.
"I'm not going to tell you that he still doesn't regret what had happend," Lambright said. "He just said 'Tom, I had no choice. I had no choice.
"He's right in that. He really did not."
It could be a difficult case to prosecute in Texas, where many people have little sympathy for criminals and an almost religious belief in the right of self defense.
Texas law allows people to use deadly force to protect themselves if it is reasonable to believe they could otherwise be killed. In limited circumstances, people also can use deadly force to protect their neighbor's property; for example, if a homeowner asks a neighbor to watch over his property while he's out of town.
The question will be whether it was reasonable for Horn to fear the men and whether his earlier threats on the 911 call showed he planned to kill them no matter what, said Fred C. Moss, who teaches criminal law at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
"That's what makes it so hard and that's why we have juries," Moss said.
