最新杏吧原创

STEELVILLE, Mo. 鈥� A six-person panel ruled Tuesday that the fatal shooting of a Black man at a small-town trailer park last year was justified.

A Crawford County Sheriff鈥檚 Department investigation after the shooting had found that Justin King had entered his neighbor鈥檚 home, the two had fought and the neighbor had shot King in self-defense.

But civil rights activists and King鈥檚 family members decried the investigation, calling it another example of a Black man dying in rural Missouri and not getting justice.

King, 28, died around 11:45 a.m. Nov. 3 in Bourbon, Missouri, about 75 miles southwest of 最新杏吧原创. He grew up in 最新杏吧原创 but was living in Crawford County to be close to his daughter, his family said.

The Crawford County Coroner on Tuesday called a panel of six residents for a 鈥渃oroner鈥檚 inquest鈥� 鈥� an uncommon type of hearing that provides guidance to prosecutors about whether to file charges. The panel was selected by the sheriff to hear evidence and determine whether King鈥檚 death was a felony or 鈥渏ustifiable鈥� in self-defense.

Prosecutors said a conflict began in the trailer park around 10:15 a.m. Nov. 3. A neighbor, Catherine Bosek, accused King of setting her dogs free from a lead in the yard. A video taken from a security camera inside King鈥檚 home around that time showed King cursing the trailer park.

Roughly 30 minutes later, another neighbor 鈥� the man accused of shooting him 鈥� dropped off a joint of marijuana to help calm King after the argument, according to video and court testimony. The two parted amicably with King holding up his hand from off-camera and saying, 鈥淟ove you, brother.鈥�

A video from outside King鈥檚 trailer an hour later shows King walking quickly across the driveway toward his neighbor鈥檚 home. King disappears on his neighbor鈥檚 covered porch, but then emerges on the driveway seconds later. He appears to angrily exclaim, then turn back toward his neighbor鈥檚 trailer and disappear under the porch.

The two men eventually appear again, with the neighbor stumbling down the stairs and King staggering behind a parked car. The video did not have audio. Police said King died behind the car.

The neighbor, whom the Post-Dispatch is not naming because he has not been charged, said in a video interview that King showed up on his porch and banged on his door, threatening him. The man said he struggled to hold the door closed, but King got inside, threw a TV and broke another before heading down the hallway toward a bedroom.

The man said he grabbed his gun because he did not know whether King was armed. During a fight, the man said, he tried to shoot King in the leg. King lunged toward him, and the man said he shot King again.

The neighbor said he did not know why King became so angry that day.

鈥淣obody had a problem with Justin ever,鈥� he said. 鈥淗e just was not the human being on my porch.鈥�

A medical examiner鈥檚 report said King was shot three times, once in the leg, once on the head and the fatal shot near his clavicle.

When he died, King had THC from marijuana, nicotine, caffeine, methamphetamine and amphetamines in his system, a Crawford County deputy coroner said. She added that he had a concentration of methamphetamine below a level considered by scientists to cause violent outbursts.

A blood test after the shooting showed the neighbor had a blood alcohol concentration of .065, below the legal limit of intoxication, plus THC from marijuana in his system, a Crawford County detective said.

Other trailer park residents said they did not believe the events as described by the neighbor, though none witnessed the shooting. All said they liked King; many said they did not trust the neighbor. They described incidents when he showed them his gun and made others uncomfortable in social situations.

Three residents who were near the trailer after hearing gunshots testified that King said, 鈥淚 thought we were friends,鈥� as he lay on the driveway.

鈥淲e were,鈥� they recalled the neighbor saying.

Prosecutors made attempts to discredit the neighbors鈥� statements, showing clips of previous interviews some residents had done and questioning discrepancies in their statements.

After more than eight hours of evidence, it took the jurors just 20 minutes to bring back a unanimous finding that the shooting was justified.

Prosecutors left the courtroom immediately after the proceeding Tuesday and did not answer questions. On Wednesday, Crawford County prosecutor David Smith said he would not charge the neighbor.

"I fully concur with the finding of the coroner's inquest panel," he said in a statement.

King鈥檚 family, Missouri NAACP President Nimrod Chapel and 最新杏吧原创 activist the Rev. Darryl Gray said it was clear the panel's conclusions were predetermined.

鈥淲e knew the verdict before they even left,鈥� said King鈥檚 father, John King. 鈥淚t鈥檚 ridiculous to think we鈥檙e going to accept this pack of lies.鈥�

They cited other Missouri cases involving the deaths of Black men, including Tory Sanders, 28, who died in 2017 in a jail in southeast Missouri after a white sheriff pressed his knee to his neck, and Derontae Martin, 19, who was shot inside the Madison County home of a white man with a history of making racist comments.

John King said other evidence should have been presented at the inquest, including other surveillance videos from the neighbor鈥檚 porch and fingerprints from the TVs inside the trailer. He, Gray and Chapel vowed to continue to protest and seek criminal charges.

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to get justice, and that鈥檚 the bottom line,鈥� John King said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.