Fatal shooting of Muncie teenager was justified, prosecutor rules

Douglas Walker, Muncie Star Press
·2 min read

MUNCIE, Ind. — A Muncie resident's fatal shooting of an apparent intruder was justified, Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman said Wednesday.

Last Nov. 19, a Muncie woman — who observed someone outside her southside home, pushing her kitchen window open — fired a "warning shot" at the window.

According to a report issued Wednesday by Hoffman:

  • Police were called to the scene and found the body of Ke'yon J. Davis, 18, on the ground outside the window.

  • The Muncie teenager had been dressed in black clothing — with a hooded sweatshirt that covered most of his face — and had a backpack that contained, among other things, a stolen laptop computer.

  • An autopsy determined Davis died as a result of a single gunshot wound in his head. Toxicology tests indicated he had earlier ingested fentanyl and "designer opioids."

  • Muncie police investigators found a cinderblock that had apparently been used "as a stool" to allow someone to look into the windows of the woman's house. Footprints found nearby were consistent with the shoes worn by Davis.

A few hours before the shooting, about 11:50 p.m. on Nov. 18, the woman had reported to police she heard someone trying to enter one of her home's windows.

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The shooting took place about 5:20 a.m. on Nov. 19.

Hoffman noted the woman lived in the house with her child and was a licensed gun owner.

Hoffman concluded she fired her gun "in defense of herself, her minor child and to terminate an unlawful attack on her residence."

The prosecutor said there was "an objectively reasonable fear of imminent death of great bodily harm."

The "amount of force, a single gunshot, was reasonable and proportionate to the urgency of the situation," Hoffman wrote.

Had Davis survived, the prosecutor said, he likely would have faced charges including attempted burglary, attempted residential entry and theft.

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Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Muncie woman justified in teen shooting death, county prosecutor says