Texas Couple Shoots 4 for Trespass. Boy, 7, Dies

[fastlanedude]

I am for gun rights. Dammit, I own 4 guns. But I think this story sucks, and pisses me off. I have heard, in Texas, you can shoot someone for trespassing. This paranoid, stupid, immoral couple needs to be shot! 5/11/09
7-year-old Texas boy dies in off-road shooting

HOUSTON (AP) - A 7-year-old boy has died after authorities say he was shot by a married couple who thought he and others who were off-roading were trespassing on their property.

Liberty County Sheriff's Cpl. Hugh Bishop said Donald Coffey Jr. died Saturday morning, less than two days after he was struck in the head with a shotgun blast.

The boy, his father, his 5-year-old sister and a family friend were off-roading outside of Houston late Thursday when they were shot after stopping their vehicles so the children could go to the bathroom.

Donald Coffey Sr. had a pellet wound in his right shoulder.

Coffey's daughter, Destiny, was hit in the elbow but was in good condition.

A hospital spokeswoman said 30-year-old Patrick Cammack, the family friend, was upgraded from critical condition after being shot in the head.

[hogdogs]

The couple is charged with felonies thus far and could yet face murder charges...
Brent

[johnwilliamson062]

man, was hoping we had a post by a real loon that would take the admin heat off of me. What does the title have to do with the story?

To the topic:
That person is still going to face one heck of a civil liability fight, and this is one of the few times I will say what seems to be possibly criminally justified is very deserving of a civil liability suit.

I would guess this was a person who has been waiting for years to have a chance to legally end someones life. That sort of person is out there, their tool of choice is irrelevant. Quite a few have invested years into medical degrees so they can have the chance. Can't beat a sociopaths dedication with regulation.

[buzz_knox]

I would guess this was a person who has been waiting for years to have a chance to legally end someones life.

If that's the case, they should still be waiting. Under no stretch of the imagination could this be construed as an opportunity to "legally end someone's life." Texas allows for the use of deadly force in certain situations beyond those covered by the "standard" rules. Shooting someone for possibly trespassing isn't even close.

[hogdogs]

The persons shot were NOT on the property of the shooters... Wife took a shot and handed the shot gun to husband who took at least one shot. ATV riders were on a levee belonging to the subdivision. Not a legal shoot and both will likely if not already have murder charges pressed.
Brent

[Brian Pfleuger]

My solution would be to lock them in a room with the boys father.

[hogdogs]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30650051/
One link and then a local link...
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...o/6414373.html

A 7-year-old boy who loved playing outdoors and riding on the back of his daddy’s Harley died Saturday morning after a Liberty County couple opened fire on him and three other alleged trespassers, Liberty County Sheriff’s Cpl. Hugh Bishop said.

“He was just a little country boy … who liked to kick off his shoes,” said Joseph Breland, a neighbor and close family friend.

Donald Coffey Jr., his father and friends were on their way back from joy riding near a levee and swimming in the Trinity River around 9 p.m. Thursday when homeowners Gale and Sheila Muhs fired at them with a 12-gauge shotgun, police say.

The Muhses, both 45, are charged with aggravated assault and are being held in the Liberty County Jail in lieu of $25,000 bail each. The couple is expected to appear in state district court in the coming week.

Authorities are considering upgrading the charge to murder or capital murder, Bishop said.

The boy, struck in the face, was among eight people, including four children, who had been on the river outing. Four people, including another child, were shot.

The boy’s 5-year-old sister, Destiny, and their father, Donald Coffey Sr., 36, were hit but have been treated by doctors and released.

The fourth shooting victim is family friend Patrick Cammack, 30, whose condition has improved since surgery. Doctors had to leave a bullet in his head, said his wife, Cindy Nelton, who was also there that night.

Nelton said the ordeal happened over two or three minutes in “pitch darkness.”

She said she was driving a sport utility vehicle with the boy’s mother, Becky Coffey. Two of the women’s children, including Destiny, were in the back.

Driving alongside them in a Jeep were Cammack, the elder Coffey, “Little Donald” and Cammack’s son.

The men stopped to use the bathroom and got out of the Jeep near the Muhses’ home in the Westlake subdivision south of Dayton when a woman’s voice boomed through the darkness, Nelton said.

In a message peppered with expletives, she said, the voice ordered the group to get their vehicles off the property.

“And then I heard a shot and our windows were blown out,” Nelton said.

Nelton, who never saw a shooter, said she immediately stomped on the gas and screamed, “We’ve got kids in this vehicle! Y’all need to stop shooting!”

A second shot, and possibly others, came in reply.
‘There was blood all over’

Nelton said she sped to safety near a bridge, unaware of the Jeep’s location.

Becky Coffey opened the door to the SUV to go look for her husband and son. When the inside light came on, a bloodied Destiny was in the back seat screaming.

“She said, ‘Mama, they shot me. Mommy, they shot me.’ There was blood all over her,” Nelton said.

Nelton rushed the girl to a nearby fire station while Becky Coffey frantically searched on foot for her other family members. The victims were taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital via air ambulance.

Meanwhile, Sheila Muhs — whose home is fronted by a sign warning: “Trespassers will be shot. Survivers will be reshot!! Smile I will” — had called 911. Bishop said the woman told a dispatcher: “They’re running over our levee in big-wheel vehicles, and I shot them.” Officials have not released the 911 tape.

Nelton said justice, for her, is simple.

“They need to be dead,” she said of the Muhses.

On Saturday, authorities were trying to determine details, such as the visibility that night, distance between the victims and the shooters, and property lines in the rural area along the river.

“Little Donald” lived his entire life in the area, riding four-wheelers and running along the Trinity’s banks.

“You couldn’t ask for a better-spirited kid,” Breland, the neighbor, said.

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[madmo44mag]

The persons shot were NOT on the property of the shooters... Wife took a shot and handed the shot gun to husband who took at least one shot. ATV riders were on a levee belonging to the subdivision. Not a legal shoot and both will likely if not already have murder charges pressed.
Brent

These folks need help can't you tell that by there poor pitiful (spelling error intended) faces.
I have a degree is helping poor souls like these.
It's the 44 step, Magnum remorse therapy course.

All jokes aside this was not a legal shooting.
The act did not occur on their property, no threat was evident.
Under Texas law they had no justification in their actions.

I hope an investigation yields more on these two.
They look like meth heads IMHO!!!!

[ar15chase]

That is a sad sad story right there. I am disgusted. I am all for defending my property, but I am not going to shoot somebody for cutting across my lawn. I just dont see how a grown man and woman could think that those people were a threat to their saftey. I dont think that either of them should ever see the light of day again. And I second the idea that they should be locked in a room with the kid's dad.

[johnwilliamson062]

so, if this had been on their property, would it have been legal? I don't think anyone is arguing the morality of the case, but, legally, if it was on their property?

[hogdogs]

I don't know if 4 wheeler ruts in your texas yard is grounds for the use of lethal force... waitin' fer the texas bunch to chime in...
Brent

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Here is the Texas law on the subject:

Originally Posted by Sec. 9.41 - PROTECTION OF ONE'S OWN PROPERTY

(a) A person in lawful possession of land or tangible, movable property is justified in using force against another when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to prevent or terminate the other's trespass on the land or unlawful interference with the property.

(b) A person unlawfully dispossessed of land or tangible, movable property by another is justified in using force against the other when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to reenter the land or recover the property if the actor uses the force immediately or in fresh pursuit after the dispossession and:

(1) the actor reasonably believes the other had no claim of right when he dispossessed the actor; or

(2) the other accomplished the dispossession by using force, threat, or fraud against the actor.

Originally Posted by Sec. 9.42 - DEADLY FORCE TO PROTECT PROPERTY

A person is justified in using deadly force against another to protect land or tangible, movable property:

(1) if he would be justified in using force against the other under Section 9.41; and

(2) when and to the degree he reasonably believes the deadly force is immediately necessary:

(A) to prevent the other's imminent commission of arson, burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, theft during the nighttime, or criminal mischief during the nighttime; or

(B) to prevent the other who is fleeing immediately after committing burglary, robbery, aggravated robbery, or theft during the nighttime from escaping with the property; and

(3) he reasonably believes that:

(A) the land or property cannot be protected or recovered by any other means; or

(B) the use of force other than deadly force to protect or recover the land or property would expose the actor or another to a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury.

Looking at that, I don't see any way these people can make a serious claim for protection under Texas law. In order to claim some defense regarding criminal mischief at nighttime, they first need to show that the use of force was "immediately necessary to prevent or terminate the other's trespass on the land or unlawful interference with the property."

Considering the circumstances, I think they will have a real hard time showing that - especially since right now it isn't even clear that there was a trespass on their property.

I just hope they weren't encouraged into such a stupid, reckless action by the many misbegotten beliefs about Texas use of deadly force laws often propagated on gun discussion boards.

[ar15chase]

You cant kill someone just for being on your property. There has to be a threat to a person or property, to justify it. This isnt the wild west.

[csmsss]

No, not a legit shooting under even the most fanciful reading of Texas statutes. Here's hoping both of these cretins get the death penalty.

[OuTcAsT]

As opposed to the case of the Florida farmer , this was a bad shoot. These people should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

[Hellbilly5000]

Any way you look at it they are going to have a real hard time convincing a jury that they were justified in any way. Although in Texas the law allows you to use deadly force to protect your property from damage or theft. I don't think they will be able to convince a jury that there lawn was worth killing an innocent child over

[markj]

I sure do feel for the family of this boy. My boy will get extra hugs tonight.

[Bartholomew Roberts]

By the way, based on the Liberty County property records, here is an aerial view of the Muh's property and the terrain where this incident occurred:

http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid...05327&t=h&z=18

Although in Texas the law allows you to use deadly force to protect your property from damage or theft.

Only if it is "immediately necessary to prevent or stop the trespass." I think they are going to have a very difficult time arguing that it was immediately necessary to stop this particular trespass (if it was even a trespass).

[KingEdward]

unless you're a sniper, this is at least negligent homicide.

why on earth would anyone shoot at something not even on
one's own property. Frustration over the levy will not mean
diddly to jurors.

unless something is missing in the story, this couple is finished.

and rightly so.

[Tikirocker]

Who would shoot an innocent 7 year old boy dead like these so-called people did? I'll tell ya ... SCUM! I hope Texas makes good on its death penalty traditions in this regard.

Tiki.

[madmo44mag]

The states just order a new supply of needles, but I think we can save the states some cash and end it all on .78 cents.
Ok cheaper if we use a 22lr but I would suspect the heads of these two individuals in very dense based on their actions.

[OuTcAsT]

Unless they are galactically stupid, or find a lawyer that is, then I doubt this will go to trial. I would suspect a plea to avoid a 1st degree murder conviction. If it does go to trial I'll bet the most they get is 2nd degree or CNH. A pity.

[SteelJM1]

Too bad the media will jump all over guns with this one, even though the tool that killed these people is irrelevant. One of my old coworkers was killed when a person strung a chain across two trees on a known 4 wheeling path that went through his property. Should the kids have been 4 wheeling there? No. Does that justify putting a deadly trap there to stop them? Absolutely not.

[Double Naught Spy]

I am for gun rights. Dammit, I own 4 guns. But I think this story sucks, and pisses me off.

Well, the story has nothing to do with gun rights. Murder or negligent homicide does suck, no doubt.

This paranoid, stupid, immoral couple needs to be shot!

It may be paranoid, stupid, and immoral, but the important thing here is that it is illegal, assuming what is described is accurate.

[shortwave]

+ 10 Double Naught. If this went down as stated, this is murder and should be tried as such. Nothing to do with gun rights. The anti`s will be on this one like a "duck on a June bug".