Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy won’t be charging anyone in the fatal triple shooting at a Detroit gas station on the city’s west side on April 19, her office announced on Wednesday, April 22.
Worthy’s office said there was “insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt” that the 22-year-old suspect did not act in lawful self-defense.
Police said the tragedy began at an illegal drag-racing event where a car with the three people who died inside — Lester Owens III, 24, Jasmine Sheeler, 24, and Trevor Sheeler Jr., 19 — crashed with another car after officers arrived at the scene to shut down the event.
The car with the three victims then began chasing the car they crashed into, and while doing so, pointed an AK-style pistol out the window and toward the vehicle they were following.
They ended up at a gas station in the 21700 block of West McNichols Road at around 3 a.m., where the victims got out of the car and began assaulting the driver in the other car, Worthy’s office detailed. Then a passenger in the back of that car — a 22-year-old CPL holder — fired a weapon at the victims.
“Under Michigan law a person can use deadly force if they reasonably believe it is necessary to prevent imminent death or serious bodily harm to themselves or others,” the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office wrote in a statement.
“After a careful review of the facts and evidence WCPO has determined that the warrant will be denied for insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the suspect did not act in lawful self-defense and in defense of others.”
Andrea Sahouri covers criminal justice for the Detroit Free Press. Contact her at asahouri@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Worthy won’t charge anyone in triple fatal shooting at Detroit gas station
Reporting by Andrea May Sahouri, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
