If they had found any kind of weapon on the kid we would not be having this conversation, especially if the weapon fell where he lay dying, not safely tucked away in a back pocket where this idiot would never have seen it.
Shooter shoots armed teen, weapon found clutched in his grip, powder residue and signs of recent discharge, stuff like that.
But the kid was armed only with a can of iced tea and some candy, he has a good school record, lots of friends to vouch for his personality, values and outlook on life, he had plans for the future and the smarts and moxy to get there.
This wasn't some sullen gang banging thug, this was a good kid who's only crime was being the wrong color and I hope this shooter gets fried for his actions.
I like to THINK I support Stand Your Ground style laws but I now find I am feeling some reservations. The situation has to reflect some evidence of potential wrongdoing because in the case of a "stand your ground" defense it is difficult or even impossible to prove that the person approaching an armed citizen had demonstrated criminal intent, even if they happened to be armed themselves.
This kind of law differs from a Castle Doctrine because the out of doors is not the same as your private home. Members of the public are all around, people you know and people you don't know.
And this is no longer The Wild West, it's a diverse urban centric industrial nation filled to overflowing with modern technology, stresses of everyday modern life and numerous interactions with persons of every known walk of life.
And the worst part is, even the Wild West had more common sense because there was an unwritten and universally accepted code that said a man had a right to argue with another man without expectation of getting shot.
Everyone knew that everyone else was probably armed, too.
The reason everyone didn't shoot each other to extinction is because cooler heads prevailed and demanded that some semblance of rationality precede the final decision to send someone to their dirt nap and the consequences for shooters doing so irrationally were often as severe as the fate of the victim, usually a hanging was involved.
You didn't shoot a man in the back, you didn't shoot an unarmed man, and you didn't lie in wait either and pursue them surreptitiously while ignoring the demand of law enforcement to BACK DOWN.
Just that last issue itself should have been grounds for this man's arrest and a charge of manslaughter....a police dispatcher acting on authority advised against further pursuit so police could take over and this man decided he knew better, and instead of leaving the scene, took it upon himself to play cop.
Stand Your Ground applies mostly to shopkeepers, people who work alone in deserted areas, persons entering or leaving their own private property or their cars.
It absolutely DOES NOT in ANY way apply to a Neighborhood Watch vigilante who is stalking someone in the dark of night and who is itching for an unsolicited confrontation.
And unless we can instill enough common sense, which apparently is in doubt, then maybe we do need to revert to some sort of "duty to retreat" philosophy.
Once a person demonstrates that they have attempted to retreat from a confrontation, if a confrontation ensues and they are in a place with a reasonable expectation of safety or in their private home or business, then all bets are off and the suspect is fair game.
But this is clearly a predator situation and the young man became prey, unarmed and innocent prey at that.
And it's time to lock up the predator before he does it again.
