In Miami, Florida on March 10 this year, Gwendolyn Jenrette, a 54-year-old property-owner who lived south of 79th Street near I-95, shot and killed a burglar. The burglar, an unarmed 17-year-old teenager named Trevon “Slick” Johnson, lived nearby in Liberty City—”a high crime neighborhood in a high crime city.” Johnson had been arrested earlier this year, although the charge was not disclosed because he was a juvenile.
Apparently the homeowner’s surveillance system alerted her to the break-in and she rushed home. “She observed a subject leaving the home through the rear,” said police Detective Dan Ferrin.
A confrontation ensued and shots were fired. Police said they responded on scene seconds after the shooting and gave CPR to the teen. Johnson was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. The homeowner was taken to a police station for questioning. “She’s a person that is a little distraught because this is her home that someone obviously was in,” Ferrin said.
At last report, investigators were still sorting out the facts, but wanted the public to remember that, if possible, it’s best not to take “these types of situations” into your own hands.
“If there’s any type of situation that happens or they believe there’s a burglary at the home or any type of confrontation, dial 911. Have the police make that confrontation,” Ferrin said, “that’s what we’re here for.” The homeowner said her home, a low-slung duplex beside the railroad tracks, had been broken into several times before and no one was ever apprehended.
The case has been handed over to state attorney’s office but, so far, no charges have been filed against her.
Johnson’s relatives said they don’t believe Johnson actually stole anything from the home and they are angry the teenager was shot and killed by the homeowner who police say was protecting her property.
Nisha Johnson, Trevon’s sister, said the young man was a student at D.A. Dorsey Technical College, a block from the spot he was shot. “What’s wrong with her? She did not have to shoot him. It’s no reason she should have waited until I think he walked out the yard to try to shoot him. If she called the police already why would she shoot him?”
“I don’t care if she have her gun license or any of that. That is way beyond the law, way beyond,” said Johnson’s cousin Nautika Harris. “He was not supposed to die like this. He had a future ahead of him. Trevon had goals…he was a funny guy, very big on education, loved learning.
“You have to look at it from every child’s point of view that was raised in the hood,” said Harris. “You have to understand…how he gonna get his money to have clothes to go to school? You have to look at it from his point-of-view.”
So this is a difficult case and, for Ms. Jenrette, it is not over—indeed, shooting and killing someone may never in a sense “be over.” Whether she had called the police prior to rushing home and searching for the burglar or whether her alarm system notified them is still not fully reported.
Florida Law
“A person is justified in using or threatening to use deadly force if he or she reasonably believes that using or threatening to use such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony.
“A person who uses or threatens to use deadly force in accordance with this subsection does not have a duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground if the person using or threatening to use the deadly force is not engaged in a criminal activity and is in a place where he or she has a right to be.”
Florida law goes far beyond the “Stand Your Ground” law, which became the focal point in the 2012 shooting of another 17-year-old, Trayvon Martin, in Sanford. In Florida, anybody who “unlawfully and by force enters or attempts to enter a person’s dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle is presumed to be doing so with the intent to commit an unlawful act involving force or violence.”
That means that homeowners are presumed to have “reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another” whenever someone “unlawfully and forcefully” enters their house, essentially giving homeowners broad license to shoot. Florida law also provides homeowners who shoot intruders with sweeping protections against civil lawsuits, meaning Johnson’s family is unlikely to receive a wrongful death settlement.
