7-Year-old Boy Dies in Trespass Shooting

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AOL News

HOUSTON (May 9) - A 7-year-old boy who was allegedly shot in the head by a couple who thought he and three other people were trespassing on their property died Saturday, authorities said.

Donald Coffey Jr. died Saturday morning at a Houston hospital, less than two days after the boy was struck in the head by shotgun pellets, Liberty County Sheriff's Cpl. Hugh Bishop said.

Sheila Muhs and her husband, Gayle Muhs, both 45, were charged with second-degree felony counts of aggravated assault in the shootings Thursday. They were being held at Liberty County Jail with bail set at $25,000 each and had not yet retained an attorney, Bishop said.

Bishop said the district attorney could upgrade the charges to murder on Monday, but investigators were "still trying to get the circumstances behind the incident."


Read more: http://news.aol.com/article/texas-trespassing-shooting/472454?icid=main|aimzones|dl1|link1|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Ftexas-trespassing-shooting%2F472454

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Photos of suspects and full story at link.

[Orrex]

1. A devilishly charismatic DUer already posted on this sad subject

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=118x221844

[rpannier]

4. Your modesty is only surpassed by

your charm, good nature and stunning good looks.

[Orrex]

7. I was going to mention those, but I didn't want to seem self-aggrandizing

[HowHasItComeToThis]

2. TRIGGER HAPPY TEXANS GO TO JAIL

LOOK WHAT YOU HAVE DONE MR. LA PIERRE
http://www.nraleaders.com/wayne-la-pierre.html SEND AN EMAIL


ALSO, PICKET WAL-MART

[pattmarty]

3. I am against the death penalty, but we're talking Texas here and.................

.............I hope these two pieces of shit get the death penalty. You know they're for the death penalty (especially for "dark" skinned people), pro gun, probably fucking religious as all hell, and were for W both times EVEN though they didn't vote. I am starting to think like Bill Maher these days. AND, since I was "scolded severely" (post deleted) regarding this very topic a few days ago for taking a somewhat vocal stance against the state, I'll simply let this statement stand (if it doesn't get deleted).

[Baby Snooks]

5. I guess we could just shoot Republicans...

At the moment Republicans outnumber Democrats in Texas - I guess we could just shoot Republicans to make you happy. We could have a "Shoot a Republican Day" and every Democrat would agree to shoot one Republican. But then there still be more Republicans than Democrats because all of the Democrats would be in prison.

You want to help turn Texas blue? Move here and register to vote and then vote. Put up or shut up as they say.

[pattmarty]

9. I did, smart ass. I retired 9 yrs ago from Chicago to Arkansas. So have a nice fucking day.

[Paladin]

10. No Need To Get Testy.

Just lay off using tragic individual incidents like this one as an opportunity to trash the whole state of Texas. Texas DUers are sick to death of such hateful, brain-dead behavior from people who are supposed to be supportive Democrats, and we're taking action against it. Find a new outlet for your prejudices....

[provis99]

12. and why can't we trash Texas?

They're the ones who decided it was ok to shoot people for trespassing. Plenty of other states don't allow this.

[Orrex]

14. Pennsylvania law forbids atheists to hold state office

Let's bash PA, then.

Every state in the union has dumb-ass regulations on its books, so we have no shortage of targets if we're going to hunt for the "most trashable."

[pattmarty]

18. That's kinda of my point. I am against NO area or region........................

................I consider the town I live in in Arkansas my true home, and I love it where I live EVEN with the things I DON'T like, that I speak up about. There is no fucking reason for a country like ours NOT to educate its citizens up to at least some kind of minimum standard. THAT is the main cause of shit like this story, whatever region of the country.

[benEzra]

35. Texas doesn't allow it, either.

Texas allows you to use NONLETHAL force to eject a trespasser, under certain conditions. But no state, including Texas, allows you to shoot someone for merely trespassing.

[Orrex]

13. And beyond that...

A person is either for the death penalty or against it. If a person is "for the death penalty in certain situations," then that person is explicitly for the death penalty.

Any principle that can be abandoned at the drop of a hat isn't much of a principle.

[pattmarty]

22. I was being facetious and I thought it showed if the whole text was read.

I am, and have always been against the death penalty.

[Baby Snooks]

30. You live in Arkansas and vote in Texas?

Hope you don't get caught. You'll become the poster boy for voter fraud.

[pattmarty]

31. Oh, puhleeeze........... You knew exactly what I meant. ..................

...........I live in the same "region" you live in, whether you like it or not.

[Paladin]

6. Just So You Know......

....blanket stereotypes and hatred directed against an entire region are against forum rules. Just because Bill Maher gets away with it, doesn't mean that you can here at DU. Try to keep that in mind in the future.

Paladin
Life-Long Democrat
Fifth-Generation Texan

[razors edge]

8. Lets hope it does.

Get deleted, that is.

These people are fucked up and did fuck up, but not every conservative is prone to the level of violence these two demonstrated.

If they were the 2nd civil war would be well under way by now.

[oxygen destroyer]

23. I agree

Exterminate the brutes

[provis99]

11. it figures from their mugshots

ugly ass, retarded-looking white trash motherfuckers. I'd guess the victims were white too, if they were offroading. These two scum will probably get the death penalty.

[bertman]

16. No way they'll get the death penalty. Are you kidding? "It was an accident", they'll say.

"We dint mean to kill the boy. We thought they wuz tearin' up the levee, so we each took a shot. An don't pay no attention to that sign. It don't mean nuthin."

My money's on manslaughter. It would be awfully hard to prove that they intended to kill a seven-year old. Unfortunately.

Edited for germatical correckniss.

(Yes, I am making fun of teh ignant rednecks, from which I know many)

[Kablooie]

17. If you shoot a rifle at a group of people it seems easy to prove you mean to kill someone.

[bertman]

25. Not if you say you were only trying to scare them off. Or you thought you were shooting

over their heads.

Maybe I'm being too pessimistic, but I think we all know that people get away with murder all the time. And it's usually reduced to a manslaughter charge.

Who knows. Maybe since it was a child who was murdered the jury will see it as murder.

[benEzra]

36. Second-degree murder is the most likely charge.

The "we shoot trespassers" sign, the fact that these idiots already fired their shotgun at someone else in the past, AND the call to the sheriff after the fact ("these people were tearing up the levee so we shot them"), all make it clear that the shooting was not accidental.

They didn't know that there was a 7-year-old boy there, true. But they know there was SOMEONE there, and they were most assuredly trying to shoot them.

[DS1]

15. What a hell of a state

Me and my friends used to play manhunt while running through all sorts of yards in New Jersey. I can say that none of us ever imagined being shot and killed while 'trespassing'.

[kimmylavin]

19. Me too!

And in New Jersey!
We were all over the place.
Only thing we had to worry about were dogs. :)

[DS1]

24. We didn't have to worry about dogs, other than them barking and

giving us away. We knew them all. I go on about our manhunt days too often on DU, but only because it comes up so often when someone is shot and killed. It was in the early 80's that we did this, and nobody thought anything of a pack of kids running through their backyards, or hiding in them.

I suspect that if I ever moved back there, and bought the house I grew up in, I'd have to talk to every neighbor in the area and tell them that kids would be running through the area and "having fun" before organizing something like that. So sad.

[bowens43]

20. this is what happens when you let just anyone buy guns......

and don't give me that 'guns don't kill people, people kill people' bullshit. a gun killed this child.


"still trying to get the circumstances behind the incident." Huh? The circumstances are that these idiots shot and killed an innocent child.



we absolutely need much stricter gun control.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Joe2131]

26. Very sad

Only the military should have guns

[ima_sinnic]

27. these a-holes have a confederate flag and "trespassers will be shot" sign

on their home. 2nd picture in the slide show at the link.
2 wastes of oxygen. It pains me that I have to share air molecules with foul, disgusting scum like this.

[TankLV]

28. It's texASS - I am SHOCKED! But go ahead - tell me why we must have MORE GUNS!!!

this is what you get for stupid public policy...

[X_Digger]

32. You mean Nevada isn't full of prostitutes?

What? Stereotypes suck, yah?

[benEzra]

37. So, you want to outlaw 19th-century-style hunting shotguns, now?

That won't even go over in Massachusetts. Get a grip.

The gun used here is legal even in England, AFAIK. Though I'm sure that won't stop the gun-ban vultures from trying to leverage this tragedy for political points.

[Anakin Skywalker]

29. Secession, Anyone?

Damn! I was gonna post this exact link myself.

Umm...would it really be so bad if TX leaves us? ;) Take it easy, holmes! I'm not saying ALL Texans are like this.

[benEzra]

38. 99.9999% of Texans aren't.

I'm not a Texan, but I do live in the South, and the stereotyping gets old after a while.

[Howzit]

33. There is no legal defense for this shooting

[GCP]

34. They look like meth-heads

What a waste of oxygen.