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Texas attorneys announced they will not press charges on the man who fatally shot a minor during a shootout in August.
Two groups made up of young adults and teens met up in Buda, Texas in early August. The groups intended to fight each other in a gang-style fistfight.
Gunfight Among Minors
A 21-year-old man found himself in a fight with an unidentified minor. According to Fox7, the minor’s cousin, 17-year-old Erick Marin, pulled a gun on the 21-year-old.
Videos posted online show that Marin shot in the direction of the 21-year-old. Then, multiple others drew firearms as well and began shooting.
The 21-year-old got his hands on a gun and shot Marin, effectively stopping the fight. Police responded to a 911 call of a shot fired. They found Marin there, in a drainage ditch.
Ghastly Aftermath
Marin died shortly after the fight. His family expressed distress and confusion over his involvement in the fight. Marin’s mom, Anna Mendivil, spoke to KVUE about her son.
“This argument was about family,” Mendivil said. “He was protecting his siblings.” She described her son as a boy who took care of people. “It wasn’t about drugs. It wasn’t about money.”
Mendivil was adamant. “It was about family. That’s how loyal my son was to his family. He gave up his life for his sister’s.”
Acting In Defense Of Another Minor
When others showed her the video of the fight, Mendivil argued that her son had acted in the defense of others. According to Mendivil, one of the other minors in the fight was Marin’s younger sister.
In the aftermath of the fistfight turned gunfight, police had a lot of investigative work to do. They successfully identified all of the youths involved there that day.
Authorities have not publicly announced any identities besides Marin.
The Shooter
The biggest question was what would happen to the 21-year-old who shot Marin?
After diving into the details of the case and Texas law, the county made a choice. Under their interpretation of Texan law, the 21-year-old had acted in self-defense. He is not receiving any charges as of right now.
Specifically, the “no-bill” vote, or decision to drop charges, came from the Hayes County Grand Jury.
We Don’t Always Agree
This decision is upsetting to many, including Mendivil. “I don’t understand why the one that’s the 21-year-old, why he’s not the one getting charged with murder,” she said. “I don’t believe in the justice system right now. It’s kind of hard to.”
The mother says she lives in fear now that the other youths will come after her family.
READ MORE: Missouri Homeowner Fatally Shoots Burglar, Receives No Charges
“It’s hard to see that, when you know it’s your kid, and it’s hard to keep getting videos of them mocking my son’s death, laughing about it,” she told CBS Austin.
Who Was Right?
Terrible things happened that day. It affected more than one life or family. We know that some people will argue that the gun is the issue in the scenario.
But if we are to believe reports, the 21-year-old who shot Marin didn’t even own a gun. It does not appear that he intended this type of harm to anyone.
Do you agree with the decision the jury made?
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Sounds like self defense to me. The mother should have brought her kid up better.
I am an acknowledged expert insofar as being a firearms instructor to law enforcement and civilians and also a builder some of the finest and most accurate guns ever……Having qualified all that…….If someone is being fired at without being involved in the act of an apparent dangerous felony and the individual receiving fire (whether accurate or not) obtains a firearm and returns fire which is accurate; he is absolutely not liable for any convection or criminal charges under any circumstance…..This is an unfortunate set of circumstances, but not the survivor’s fault and was the only choice he was left with……
Law & Order + Law Enforcement are rapidly breaking down in the USA. Witness the ubiquitous violent street takeovers plaguing communities everywhere. On September 28th in Cleveland, thugs managed to completely shut down the eastbound innerbelt–the main freeway artery into and out of downtown Cleveland–for over an hour.They spun donuts in the middle of the freeway, THEY menaced motorists trapped in their cars, THEY pointed guns at them, they jumped on cars and they broke car windows while the CPD simply sat in their cars and did nothing to stop it!!! How ridiculous, how out of control, how serious, is this??? Again, think about it! A deranged mob took over a large section of FREEWAY and the cops just put their tails between their legs and watched from the sidelines, leaving innocent citizens trapped in their cars at the mercy of dozens of lunatics! In other words, civilization began to break down in the City of Cleveland that Saturday evening! When questioned re: why the CPD did nothing to stop this insanity, the newly sworn in coward who calls herself the Chief of Police said: “We don’t just barge in, especially when people are showing no concern for the law…” Um… Isn’t that basically the job description?
There is only one way to put an end to ALL OF THIS MADNESS! You make examples out of these fiends, with extreme prejudice if necessary. So bravo to the 21-year-old!! That’s the way a mob full of cowards should dealt with!!! I bet this nonsense goes away real quick if We the People would just show some guts like Trump did… FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!
The 17yo pulled a handgun? What was a 17yo doing with a handgun? Might want to look into parental negligence, as well as any other illegal firearm possession charges that may be warranted. Kind of sounds like these folks don’t have a handle on their children’s behavior.
We’ve all heard it before. Her “little Johnny” was a good boy and didn’t deserve to die – even though he started it AND had a gun AND shot at the other kid first. What happen to the days when kid duked it out with their fist to settle these petty arguments? I hate to say it, but it’s as much her fault as it was her brat’s fault. Don’t let the streets raise your kids for you.
Not self defense because he was committing illegal acta. If a criminal robs a store and then gets in a fight with owner and kills him is that self defense?
Dano,
That is not how it works in Texas. You are referring to the Felony Murder Rule. You also assume the 21YO was assaulting someone. What if, and I was not there so I don’t know, but think this through . . . was it “mutual combat” both parties agreed to meet and fight (think high school boys meeting behind the gym to fight over a girl – NOTE there are 17 year olds, and at least one girl involved so this is not a stretch of any imagination . . . maybe the 17 YO that the dead kid was trying to defend is the original attacker . . . for all we know, dead kid instigated everything – we do know he brought the gun, we do know he shot at 21 YO first.
FYI – fighting is “disturbing the peace”, or at most, simple assault – either way it is not a Felony so the Felony Murder Rule does not apply.
Self defense. Her son, Erick Marin, pulled a gun in a fist fight and shot at the 21 year old.
shame they all didn’t kill each other
BINGO!
I feel for the mother who lost a child. A parent will to defend a child but he was 17 years old and had a gun on him…at a fist fight. He pulled the gun and fired at somebody. He wasn’t that good. The 21 year old in this article, it seems, was unarmed and got ahold of a firearm to protect himself. If the 17 year old wanted to protect his younger sister, he would have made sure she wasn’t there to begin with.
Don’t pull a gun in a fist fight.