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If the key word here is "prevent" then wouldn’t you still have the right to "prevent" the suspect from escaping.
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No. With only limited exceptions, the use of deadly force is only justified to prevent serious bodily injury or death, only when the threat is imminent and only when there is no other reasonable option available.
Even in TX where there are some exceptions to that rule, using deadly force to prevent someone from escaping after a crime is legally very shaky ground, only legal in very limited circumstances and even then only when there is no other reasonable option. Even if everything goes your way, expect a criminal trial and figure that a civil suit is a given.
You can certainly try to prevent someone from leaving the scene, but if you do so with deadly force, it will likely be a criminal act and, depending on the circumstances, it might even allow the person attempting to leave to use deadly force against you and claim self-defense.
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I don’t want to hijack the thread but somethings not right with this...
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The case happened in my area and I remember it. The case took place before there was a CHL law in TX (no legal provision for concealed or vehicular carry of a handgun) and the person shot the murderer with a handgun he had in his vehicle. In addition, the person who shot the murderer also left the scene and didn't turn himself in for days. Finally, the person did not realize that the murderer was attacking his own wife and (according to reports at the time) believed that he had witnessed either a random act of violence or part of some sort of rampage. In other words, there were a number of reasons why the case was more complicated than it might have been otherwise.