Boy's action 'justifiable', 11-year-old shoots, kills assailant
South Bend Tribune (Indiana) | February 6, 2002
Boy's action 'justifiable'
11-year-old shoots, kills assailant
By GWEN O'BRIEN
Tribune Staff Writer
SOUTH BEND -- When Tony D. Murry held a box cutter to Sue Gay's neck Monday night, Gay's 11-year-old adopted son ran upstairs at the home at 1348 N. Huey St. and grabbed a gun.
"He hit the bottom of the stairs with the .45 and stood ready stance with the gun," said Gay with feet spread apart and her hands outstretched as if holding a handgun.
The boy shot one round and hit Murry, 27, in the chest, even though the man was shielding himself with Gay. "I don't know how he did that. One shot and he got him. He's my little hero," Gay said of the grandson she adopted.
The fifth-grader may not have been just a lucky shot. This is a family that knows guns. "Before his dad died, they'd go target shooting. He knows they're not toys and not something to mess with," Gay said.
Ironically, it was guns that Murry may have come for in the first place. "Murry demanded all the weapons in the house. Gay's late husband was a weapons collector and Murry knew of the collection," said St. Joseph County Prosecutor Chris Toth, who said this was a case of justifiable homicide.
Gay said her daughter, who is the boy's biological mother and currently in prison, was acquainted with Murry. Murry, or "Casper" as Gay knew him, would come by every couple of months to ask about Gay's daughter. The two never dated, according to Gay.
"I'm not sure where they met. Probably in South Bend when she was off on one of her drug binges," Gay said. In an arrest in November, Murry listed "drug dealer" as his occupation, according to booking records at the St. Joseph County Jail.
"I'm upset because she put us in this position. She didn't send him (Murry) over here, but he was one of her acquaintances. I'm more mad at him though," Gay said.
Murry had been inside Gay's house before Monday night and she trusted him. But this visit was different. "I know he was drunk. At first he wanted me to buy him booze. Then he wanted me to drive him home. I don't leave my house after dark," Gay said.
Gay said Murry had been at the house for about a half an hour. She said she asked him to leave at 8 p.m. because she needed to go to bed. She normally leaves for work at 3 a.m.