Houston area investigators are looking into a stand-your-ground case where after a minor fender-bender, a 22-year-old white male was shot and killed by a 23-year-old black woman. During a morning commute, Crystal Scott and Jonathan Ables were in an accident and pulled into a Shell gasoline station to survey the damage.
According to Scott, Ables exited his truck and ran toward her driver-side door. Scott said he yelled and then hit her door and tried to open it. Fearing for her life, Scott pulled her pistol and shot Ables once through the driver’s window and struck him in the chest. Ables died at the scene.
A Harris County Sheriff’s spokesman, Sgt. Felipe Rivera said “From what we understand it was maybe just a minor accident,” while adding, “The information we’re getting is that it appeared to be a minor accident that turned into road rage.”
Nonetheless, the victim’s girlfriend, Evelyn Bautista, claimed that Ables was not aggressive. “He’s just a regular guy,” she said. Ables’ family members also claim that it is hard to believe that he deserved his killing.
Bautista believes Ables was merely attempting to exchange insurance information with Scott. “I’ll leave it up to God. I’m not one to judge. It’s just unfair that they took him away from me like that,” she wept. “I just want justice. That’s it.” Bautista was first apprised of Ables’death via social media.
Ables’ sister-in-law, who has insisted on anonymity, said official investigators have already sided with Scott. “If you don’t even contact the victim’s family, that just shows how you’re already siding on one side, you don’t even care what the other people are feeling to even tell them,” she said. “If she feared for her life or something, why didn’t she just drive off? Why’d she have to attack him? I don’t understand,” she added.
Scott retained legal counsel soon after the incident. Attorney Letitia Quiñones claims her client has a concealed weapon permit and reacted properly in the face of danger. “[She] got involved in road rage with an individual who wrecked her car, followed her into a gas station and jumped out of his car and began attacking her car,” she said.
“She did only what anybody in that position would be. She was in fear of imminent bodily injury or death and she ended it herself,” said Quiñones. Alleging that Ables broke the driver’s side window of Scott’s car, Quiñones cited this as evidence of the ferocity of the attack. Quiñones said that Scott is traumatized by the incident.
Bishop James Dixon, Scott’s pastor, said of the encounter, "There was a car accident and they pulled over into the Shell station to talk about it." Dixon said, "This was a normal morning for her into work. It's unfortunate that her morning did not proceed as planned."
“All we know is, she said it was self defense, and I really don’t want to go into details,” said Dixon. “She’s a wonderful young lady, and she’s a church member at Community Faith Church, where I pastor, along with her mother. She’s just a good values-based person, a hard working young lady.”
An eyewitness, who appeared on camera but has requested anonymity, said that he did not hear any threat in the seconds before Scott killed Ables. The witness was pumping gas and standing 15 feet away from Ables when a bullet ricocheted past him and struck his car. The bullet left a noticeable impression on the witness’s car.
As for Scott’s version of events, the witness said that if Ables had shouted or banged on the car, he would have heard it. “What drew my attention was the gunshot,” said the witness. “I just want to be sure that I do everything in my power that everything is fair. I care about it being fair,” he said. The Harris County sheriff’s department has not yet responded to Spero News’ request for any security footage of the shooting.
No comments:
Post a Comment