Oklahoma City Homeowner Charged with Murder After Shooting Squatter

A homeowner in Oklahoma City faces murder charges after shooting a squatter he discovered with his girlfriend in one of his vacant properties.

On May 1, Timothy Smith found Justin King in a bedroom with an unidentified woman at a house located in southwest Oklahoma City. This incident took place in the Rancho Village neighborhood.

The 59-year-old Smith, armed with a handgun and with his daughter by his side, confronted King and told him to leave. An altercation reportedly ensued in the 1500 block of Southwest 44th Street, according to the Oklahoma City Police Department.

Authorities claim that during the confrontation, Smith pointed his gun at King and fired, hitting him in the neck.

Smith later told police that King approached him before he shot.

Smith and his daughter were reportedly armed because of recent issues with homelessness in their neighborhood.

In his defense, Smith acknowledged that he didn’t see King holding a weapon but insisted that the intruder had no business being in his home. “If you weren’t here, this wouldn’t have happened,” he stated to the police, as reported.

King was hospitalized for over a week following the incident and was taken off life support on May 8.

Initially, Smith faced charges of assault and battery with a deadly weapon, but those charges were escalated to first-degree manslaughter after King’s death. He has also been charged with reckless conduct with a firearm.

Smith is currently held in the Oklahoma County Jail on a $25,000 bond.

The defense attorney argued against the justification of using lethal force on King, who merely trespassed on Smith’s property. “There is no death penalty for wrongdoing in Oklahoma. You can’t just bring a gun and shoot someone,” said criminal defense attorney Ed Blau.

Regarding the upcoming trial, the defense is optimistic about establishing that Smith acted in self-defense, although it complicates matters that Smith admitted he didn’t see a weapon in King’s hand at the time. Blau elaborated on the nuances of self-defense claims for homeowners confronted by intruders, explaining that circumstances vary significantly depending on whether someone is at home or in an abandoned property.