Pharmacist who killed robber guilty of murder

[Cogman]

First degree murder was the right call. The way the pharmacist cooly and calmly walked over and shot the kid is very disturbing.

I wouldn't, however, give the guy a life sentence with it, I would give the lowest possible punishment that goes with first degree murder.

 

[mikeymikec]

What if he had survived and later he and his homies come back for revenge?

JS80, that sort of logic can justify an enormous response. The shopkeeper can kill the guy, hunt down all the people responsible for the attempted robbery and kill them, then kill their friends, family... etc.

I think the rule should be pretty simple, and it may well be - self-defence shouldn't normally need go as far as killing someone in response, and if you do, you're risking being charged with murder. The same goes for 'coming back for a second helping' - ie. revenge, it's no longer self-defence.

 

[BUTCH1]

Can they charge the 14 year old with murder too, since it happened while they were committing a felony?

Antwun Parker's Mom Says Son's A 'Hero'

Apparently getting shot in the face when trying to rob someone by gunpoint makes you a hero

Wow, she's whacked, first the ridiculous excuse "someone made my son do it" to the absurd of calling an armed robber a "hero".

 

[Cogman]

Wow, she's whacked, first the ridiculous excuse "someone made my son do it" to the absurd of calling an armed robber a "hero".

You ever wonder what sort of parents criminals have? Stupid lady.

 

[amdhunter]

Should have put more bullets in him. I'd have reloaded again and taken a few more shots.

 

[Bird222]

Let me say I HATE fucking thieves, but you shouldn't be using deadly force if you are not threatened. The problem with the people advocating the murder, is that you are going on emotion. Yeah it pisses me off to no end when someone steals, but in the end it is just material goods. What do most people say when someone gets into a car wreck? 'We can get another car as long as you are ok' People are more important than 'stuff'. Put it another way, would you be comfortable with judges handing out death sentences for burglary? Emotionally, I am on the pharmacists side, but by the laws we have to live by in a society you can't do what he did.

 

[olds]

Let me say I HATE fucking thieves, but you shouldn't be using deadly force if you are not threatened. The problem with the people advocating the murder, is that you are going on emotion. Yeah it pisses me off to no end when someone steals, but in the end it is just material goods. What do most people say when someone gets into a car wreck? 'We can get another car as long as you are ok' People are more important than 'stuff'. Put it another way, would you be comfortable with judges handing out death sentences for burglary? Emotionally, I am on the pharmacists side, but by the laws we have to live by in a society you can't do what he did.

I would guess that most car wrecks are not deliberate. Robbery is deliberate and society needs fewer of these people.

 

[SaDiZTiKStyLeZ]

I see nothing wrong here.

 

[SparkyJJO]

After he shot the guy and chased the other guy away, he was no longer under duress. He handled the situation well until he decided to execute the dude on the floor.

This.

 

[LumbergTech]

I'm not going to join the conservative gun nut outrage train any time soon, but this case seems pretty clear..IF you go into someone's place of work waving a gun or with someone who is waving a gun with the intent to rob them then you get what you deserve. It is unfortunate that his life ended that way, but he made a very poor choice.

I mean what will we did with people like this in society..who shoot people who come in with buddies waving guns at them..OH THE HORROR

 

[alkemyst]

While i am all for self defense, what the pharmacist did was despicable.



If Parker was alive... shooting him FIVE more times was assassination.
There was no reason to shoot him five more times.

Yeah because no one on ATOT would think some punkass dude wouldn't be coming back to settle the score.

While most normal people would not, most normal people don't attempt to hold up a store.

IMHO someone threatened with a gun or deadly force should have carte blanche to do whatever the fuck they want to the group that threatened.

I also love how they always turn every black asshat being shot by a white person a racial killing. WTF is the NAACP doing in this case?

I can see if the kid was a totally innocent bystander and targeted because he was the same race or something stupid...but this punk was old enough to know the risks.

This should be changed to a manslaughter charge and the pharmacist claim he had a mental breakdown (which is probably what happened anyway).

 

[LumbergTech]

I don't care. That was excessive use of force. There was no threat.

If you can't control yourself, maybe you shouldn't have a gun.

hes not a police officer..are you insane? he had no idea who was armed or who wasnt

first degree murder is bullshit in this case..manslaughter maybe, but even that charge bugs me because once again they came in with a gun..all bets are off if someone pulls that shit

 

[SKORPI0]

Disabling the person accompanying the person with a gun would have been the appropriate response. Shooting him 5 more times when he was already in the floor defenseless was uncalled for.

Of course, if you are a cop.... it will be justified "armed or not". :\

 

[LumbergTech]

Disabling the person accompanying the person with a gun would have been the appropriate response. Shooting him 5 more times when he was already in the floor defenseless was uncalled for.

Of course, if you are a cop.... it will be justified "armed or not". :\

how does he know what he does or doesnt have when he is crazy enough to come in with a friend waving a gun?

 

[SKORPI0]

how does he know what he does or doesn't have when he is crazy enough to come in with a friend waving a gun?

So you're going to justify shooting to death an unarmed/defenseless person you've already shot in the head. Chances are he was already dead/dying when he hit the floor. Big mistake on him going to think that the Pharmacist wouldn't retaliate with deadly force. But 1st degree should have been reduced to manslaughter.:\

Not sure how I would have reacted if put in that situation.

 

[Sluggo]

Wow, she's whacked, first the ridiculous excuse "someone made my son do it" to the absurd of calling an armed robber a "hero".

Two older upstanding citizens, 33 and 44, were also convicted of murder for putting the two younger kids up to the robbery. Then of course physically attacked the DA after their conviction.

http://newsok.com/murderer-attacks-...ilty-in-pharmacy-robbery-case/article/3564082

Ingram testified last week the two men sent him and his friend into the pharmacy to get drugs to sell in Tulsa. He said Morrison gave him a gun, and Mitchell drove him and Parker to the pharmacy and had clothes and masks for disguises. He said he ran outside when the pharmacist began firing.

The pharmacist, Jerome Jay Ersland, 59, faces his own murder trial in two weeks. Prosecutors allege he went too far when he shot Parker five more times after knocking him out and to the floor with a shot to the head. Ersland has said he was defending himself and two female co-workers.

 

[alkemyst]

This sadly is the cry normally now...adults put kids up to a crime. The kids totally know WTF they are doing when they go and shoot people...however it's easy for them to cry and play the victim after the crime and get mostly probation and then a cleaned record at 18.

I am sure people would be surprised how many 'kids' are carrying weapons to middle and high school day to day.

They just picked up two 14 year olds from a pretty nice high school in the area that were skipping. Cop asked if they had anything in their bags he should know about.

They both volunteered the info, one had two 9mm, 200 rounds of ammo, knives and brass knuckles. The other a single gun, 50 rounds of ammo, and knives. They said they carried this amount to school EVERYDAY.

They also (doubtfully) claimed they were not in a gang, but just trying to keep themselves safe from them.

WHERE ARE THE FUCKING PARENTS?

 

[QueBert]

hes not a police officer..are you insane? he had no idea who was armed or who wasnt

first degree murder is bullshit in this case..manslaughter maybe, but even that charge bugs me because once again they came in with a gun..all bets are off if someone pulls that shit

Nope, I worked at a liquor store and was robbed at gun point, as the robber was fleeing I grabbed our pistol, just in case he came back. When the police showed and saw the pistol I told them what I did. They said it's good I didn't shoot him as he was leaving because I probably would have ended up in prison since I was no longer in danger. his life was no longer in danger so it's 1st degree murder, the extra shots just seal the deal.

 

[alkemyst]

Nope, I worked at a liquor store and was robbed at gun point, as the robber was fleeing I grabbed our pistol, just in case he came back. When the police showed and saw the pistol I told them what I did. They said it's good I didn't shoot him as he was leaving because I probably would have ended up in prison since I was no longer in danger. his life was no longer in danger so it's 1st degree murder, the extra shots just seal the deal.

The other poster wasn't looking for you to justify your own lack of action in the face of danger. He was saying one should have a right to attack once they were attacked.

The same fear you had of them coming back that night, should have been a fear of them eventually coming back. Being in your case they succeeded chances are they aren't going to try the same shop. If they don't succeed the first time, many times that 'target' is still interesting to them.

 

[JSt0rm]

his adrenaline must have been going crazy, he couldn't have made any sane decisions at that time.

Then why should he have a gun in the first place if he cant make sane decisions about how and when to use it?

 

[alkemyst]

Then why should he have a gun in the first place if he cant make sane decisions about how and when to use it?

He did use it properly. It's likely possible once he lead chase and came back to a kid that was more than likely already dead, he snapped.

This is probably just one of your typical 'devils advocate' posts though.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

To me, you are crossing a very serious line once you point a gun at someone or seriously threaten someone's life.


I feel like the pharmacist went way overboard, but shouldn't be punished for what he did. The kid wouldn't have been in this position had him and buddy not brought guns in there trying to rob the place.

Granted our current legal system doesn't agree with me, but in my opinion once you make a serious threat towards a person's life then all bets should be off - period.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Then why should he have a gun in the first place if he cant make sane decisions about how and when to use it?

Two kids without masks robbing a place at gunpoint is pretty much the perfect situation to have a gun.

Life is not all butterflies and fairy tales.. Many times innocent unarmed people end up executed to prevent any witnesses etc.

 

[hdfxst]

He was justified in shooting and killing both of them.But once he chased the guy out the door he went from victim to aggressor.anyone who carries a gun should learn from this video

 

[TheAdvocate]

I am very glad that a number of you do not write the laws and thankful that jury instructions are available for criminal trials.

There is some horrificly bad legal analysis in this thread and some very weak moral rationalizations as well.

First of all, someone said that they didn't enter the store with the intent to kill. Ever heard of felony murder? If not, read up.

Next, in every state that I am aware of, lethal force is only available to meet the same. Once you are no longer in jeapordy and you use lethal force, your are criminally liable for your actions. Also, lethal force /= any force (lesser force is so much easier to justify). And finally, in many states you have a duty to retreat if at all possible. This guy used lethal force on an unarmed kid, which probably would have been fine because his accomplice was armed, but the kid ceased being a threat the minute he went down. And, the armed kid ran, thereby REMOVING ALL THREATS OF LETHAL FORCE. Then the pharmacist went for a vengence kill. It's that simple.

I suspect that the pharmacist's lawyer argued that his actions were a continuation of the heat of the moment but lost because the threat had abated and 5 damn shots with another gun. If he had spazzed out and immediately pumped 6 rounds into the Parker kid, without stopping, he probably could have pled it down to 2nd degree. Manslaughter does not apply here. He used lethal force with specifc intent.

And from a moral standpoint, that is some cold blooded shit. I have quite a temper myself when my family/friends are threatened, but landing a likely lethal shot on another man and then having even a few seconds to think about it would probably floor me. It doesnt matter how depraved the indivdual is (and this was a dumb kid)... a decent person's anger would be overcome by the horror of what happened and the desire to see to everyone else's safety. A decent person would have called the cops, even if he felt the need to keep a gun trained on a young kid who was bleeding out on the floor from a probably fatal head shot.

Finally, it is good that the two guys who put the kids up to this were convicted as well. The mom calling her son a hero is a bit much. Being a hero would have been standing up to the two dickwads who put him up to it. If he had died or been hurt resisting their compulsion, "hero" would have been justified.

There is way too much bloodlust on this thread. I suspect it is from a bunch of people who have never seen death or much violence either. It is a horrible, horrible thing. Only the most depraved are not scarred by it. To so gleefully and enthusiastically applaud the pharmacist in this situation is disturbing, to say the least. I think most of it is internet bravado and some repressed anger.