Two Teens Shot in Another ‘Stand Your Ground’ and ‘Shoot First’ Case

Updated April 20, 2023

• In another "stand your ground" case, two teenage cheerleaders were shot in Texas earlier this week for accidentally getting into the wrong vehicle. The girls, Heather Roth and Peyton Washington, were struck after beginning to enter a car they thought was theirs in a grocery store parking lot. One remains hospitalized in critical condition, while the other was treated and released on the scene. 
• The suspect, 25-year-old Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr., opened fire on the victims before exchanging words or asking questions — similar to the actions of Andrew Lester, who shot 16-year-old Ralph Yarl in Missouri for mistakenly knocking on his door, and Kevin Monahan, who shot and killed 20-year-old Kailyn Gillis for accidentally turning into his driveway in upstate New York. 
• Gun reform activists are ramping up rallies in light of these high-profile gun violence cases where the armed suspects act according to Shoot First Laws — deciding to shoot first and ask questions later.

What’s the story?

• The shootings of Ralph Yarl, a Black teen in Kansas City, and Kaylin Gillis, a young white woman in upstate New York, have dug up scrutiny of the “stand your ground” self-defense laws. 
• Both young people were shot for mistakenly appearing at the wrong addresses.
• Investigators of Yarl’s case are considering whether or not 84-year-old Andrew Lester, the man who shot 16-year-old Yarl, was acting in self-defense, which sparked outrage and protests. While the prosecutors announced that Lester was charged with armed assault, the man is still using stand your ground laws to defend himself in court. 

What are stand your ground laws?

• Stand your ground laws are based on the principle of the “castle doctrine,” which gives individuals the right to use reasonable, even deadly, force to protect themselves against someone on their property. Stand your ground laws are an extension of this rule, saying people have the right to stand their ground during an attack and have no duty to retreat. This solidifies the right to kill a person if one believes they pose a grave threat. 
• The self-defense law became hotly debated in 2012 when George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin, a Black 17-year-old walking from his father’s home to a local convenience store. Zimmerman said he felt threatened by the teen, who was unarmed. A Florida jury acquitted Zimmerman on account of the stand your ground laws. 

The impact of stand your ground laws

• By the time of Martin’s death, 24 states had enacted versions of stand your ground. Now, 38 states have similar legislation, according to a Reveal investigation in 2022. However, public support for the laws seems to be in decline. 
• Another analysis from last year found that these laws were linked to an 8-11% increase in yearly homicide rates, and that in 79% of cases where the laws could be applied, the person could have retreated to avoid confrontation. 
• Additionally, these self-defense regulations have a huge racial disparity — Black people are much more likely to be killed by white people claiming to act in self-defense. Expert Caroline Light, Harvard senior lecturer, said:

“We have so much data showing these laws do not make us safer. And in fact, they authorize so much unnecessary violence that disproportionately harms Black and brown people.”

• Many also argue that stand your ground laws encourage a violent culture. A law professor at the University of Florida, Kenneth Nunn, said:

“The presence of a ‘stand your ground’ law in the public’s mind generally means, all you have to say is, ‘I was in fear for my life,’ and no charges will be brought, and I think a lot of police officers tend to believe that, too.”

• Thaddeus Hoffmeister, a professor of law at the University of Dayton, said: 

“The legacy of ‘stand your ground’ is this wild west mentality that everything can be resolved with guns.”

Missouri’s stand your ground laws

• Missouri has especially strong stand your ground legislation, which critics call a “shoot first law.” It claims that people can use deadly force and have no duty to retreat if they “reasonably believe” it was necessary to prevent their own death or when someone attempts to enter their home, which is what Lester is using for his defense. 
• However, state policy director of the Giffords Law Center, Ari Freilich, reminded the public that the law does not permit shooting someone for simply ringing your doorbell. He continued talking about the case, saying:

“[It fits] the pattern we’ve seen over and over again of racist fear intersecting with really widespread unvetted firearm access, combining in our country to make gun violence the leading cause of death by far for young Black men.”

What’s next?

• Critics are urging political leaders to repeal stand your ground laws as it continues to help white people and harm Black communities. Rev Vernon Howard, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City, said: 

“Black people are still suffering from laws in this country that are not moral and not just – and ‘stand your ground,’ as it is applied to Black people, is one of them…There’s a lack of protection for Black life and equal justice under the law.”

Want to see stand your ground laws repealed? Contact your representatives.

-Jamie Epstein

(Photo credit: Flickr/Willie Stark)