JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The State Attorney's Office has decided a homeowner was justified when shooting and killing a man he said was trying to break into his Northside home earlier this year.
Howell Warth shot and killed 37-year-old Gregory Lawley, a man with multiple felony convictions for burglary, at Warth's home on Bruce Street in April.
Documents released by the State Attorney's Office paint a picture of what happened that night. They describe a man home alone, saying he was trying to defend himself against another man he said he caught trying to break in.
DOCUMENT: Justifiable use of deadly force review
Warth said he grabbed his gun and confronted Lawley (pictured below from 2009 arrest), then tried to make a "citizen's arrest" in the street as Lawley was trying to walk away.
News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said that in situations like these, people have the right to defend themselves.
"If the person is in commission of a felony -- home invasion, burglary; those are felonies -- and if they believe their life is in danger, they have the right to defend themselves," Smith said.
Warth said he grabbed Lawley's backpack, and the confrontation turned violent in the street when Lawley took a swing at him, according to the documents. Prosecutors said Warth "believed that Lawley may have been going for Warth's gun."
Warth fired a single shot, striking Lawley in the mouth, killing him.
"The law says even if he's leaving, the burglary can still be considered to be ongoing," said attorney Rhonda Peoples-Waters, who's not affiliated with the case.
There were no witnesses to the fatal shooting.
According to the documents, there was surveillance video from a neighbor's home, but the poor lighting, grainy nature of the video, and a power pole obstructing the view provided "minimal evidentiary value."
The "stand your ground" law has been the focus of major court cases in northeast Florida, including Marissa Alexander's. Alexander is a Jacksonville mother who claims she fired a warning shot at her estranged husband in 2012.
A judge denied Alexander's petition for immunity under stand your ground. She's heading for a retrial.
The law was also discussed in the case of the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. George Zimmerman's defense team did not hold a stand your ground hearing, but legal experts say it played a role in the case.
Peoples-Waters gave her take on if the Lawley case will have any affect on the stand your ground law.
"This ruling favors stand your ground when you have the State Attorney's Office saying that you don't necessarily have to be in your home, you can be affecting a citizen's arrest down the street and still obviously use deadly force to defend yourself when you believe deadly force is coming against you," Peoples-Waters said.
Lawley had a long history of arrests in Clay County, including for burglary, aggravated battery, car theft and DUI.