County Prosecutor: No Charges for Son Who Killed Intruder at Mother’s House

Indiana’s Marion County prosecutor says there will be no charges for a son who shot and killed an intruder while staying at his mother’s house.

The Indy Star reports that the house was being sold and the mother had asked the son to stay and keep a watch on it until the sale was final.

The son and a friend stayed in the home and witnessed a dark Chevy van pull into the driveway around 6:30 p.m. A man from the van began trying to make entry into the home as the son’s friend dialed 911.

The suspect, 39-year-old Rickey Cartmel, got into the home and began moving toward the son. The son ordered Cartmel to stop then shot him when he refused to comply.

Cartmel “staggered out of the home” and another man confronted the son. The second suspect had “something in his hand” and the son opened fire. The second suspect ran back to the van and got in just before the vehicle sped off.

Police found Cartmel’s body lying in the yard when they arrived. They later found and arrested 47-year-old Benjamin Gardner and 40-year-old Kevin Lemaster. Police also discovered the Chevy van which was “riddled with bullet holes.”

FOX 59 reports that the son will not face any charges in the shooting because his actions are “protected by Indiana’s self-defense statute.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.