Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
A man was fatally shot earlier this week in Texas after jumping the fence of a chop shop.
The police received a 911 call of a man getting shot early that morning.
Initial reports came from Click2Houston. It appeared that the intruder had jumped a fence at a home.
According to an early statement from Sheriff Ed Gonzalez on X, there may have been two suspects. They jumped the fence and one was shot by the property owner. The other supposedly left.
Follow The GPS, Jump the Fence
When police arrived, the suspect was pronounced dead and identified as 21-year-old Sherwin Mireles.
A more recent report from Fox26 claims that the property was a chop shop. Mireles and his friend(s) were tracking the GPS of a stolen truck.
They reportedly jumped a fence in the back lot of a property owned by Jorge Zuniga-Martinez.
According to ABC13, Mireles apologized when he saw Zuniga-Martinez. The owner shot him before he had a chance to leave. Mireles was shot multiple times.
A Chop Shop Property
According to an update from Gonzalez, the community knew that property to be a dumping ground for stolen vehicles.
Zunigo-Martinez had stayed overnight on the property because there had been several thefts recently. His claim was that Mireles startled him when he jumped the fence.
Police took Zunigo-Martinez into custody. Investigators have spent the last several days at the chop shop. They uncovered significant evidence of theft, committed by Zunigo-Martinez.
After concluding the investigation, police charged the chop shop owner with murder.
Conclusion
So this case brings up some interesting questions:
- Where is the line between self-defense and murder?
- What must the circumstances be to legally shoot in self-defense?
- How many shots are enough to defend yourself?
- What should those involved have done differently?
READ MORE: Can I Shoot a Smash-and-Grab Robber?
It is important to be vigilant and prepared, but it is also important to know your limits. Don’t do anything unnecessary or illegal.
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Call the police and stay home.
ghetto property rules don’t count here………you don’t go and try to steal something back
What’s really interesting is, if the guy looking for his truck had been armed and killed the chop shop property owner, the outcome would be the same. Somebody going to jail for murder. Turns out criminals don’t care about laws, and defending yourself or your STOLEN property can make you a criminal.
This is a horrible case to use in a self defense scenario. This was a criminal that murdered a person that was following up on a vehicle theft. You might want to kick Kimber Pearce to the curb. You are not helping our community with this type of story.
You also are not supposed to be committing a felony like running a chop shop, and allow trespassers to leave when they apologize and try to leave! A business is also not a home for the castle doctrine!
In Texas, the castle doctrine applies to your OCCUPIED dwelling, PLACE OF BUSINESS, or vehicle. Trespass alone is never a justification for use of deadly force (ie, you can’t just shoot someone for coming on your property uninvited, even if the property is posted as No Trespassing).
This case clearly has nothing to do with self defense or even protection of personal property. The chop shop owner is participating in multiple ongoing felonies, and from my reading, the person who jumped the fence was unarmed and made no verbal or physical threats toward the car thief. In light of the described events, your questions are asinine and irrelevant.
My thoughts exactly. A civilian investigating theft was murdered by a participant in a felonious theft ring.
And the “community ” knew this was going on… where were the police way before this incident happened?
“When seconds count the police are only minutes away.”
A 9 mm bullet travels faster than a police car.