March 21, 2006

Man kills boy for walking on lawn

I was listening to talk radio on my way to work this morning and they were talking about the man (Charles Martin) who killed a 15-year old boy because he was mad the boy kept walking through his yard. They played a portion of the 911 call and I was flabbergasted at how calm this guy was about it. He only seemed to care about how mad the boy and his family made him and not that a child was dying on his front lawn. What is wrong with people??

According to this Fox 19 Cincinnati report:

"In the call Martin tells the operator that he "just killed a kid" and the operator asks Martin what happened and he talks about his feud with his 15 year old neighbor. "It's just...I've been being harassed by him and his parents for five years, and I just today, just blew up," Martin tells the operator.

Martin filed a complaint with the Union Township, OH police department in 2003 but police say it was nothing specific. "(I) don't believe it was against the victim, he had come to police to seek out advice against neighborhood problems," said Lt. Scott Gaviglia of the Union Township police. That problem ended tragically Sunday.

Police say that 15 year old Larry Mugrage first had an argument about his crossing Martin's lawn. An hour later, Mugrage again crossed Martin's yard, this time with friends. That is when he became a target for Martin's weapon and rage. In the call, the 911 operator asks Martin what happened and Martin talks about the kids harassing him and tearing things up.

Then the operator asks what Martin did and Martin replied, "I shot him with a g*****n .410 shotgun. Then according to the call, Martin said that Mugrage was laying next to his driveway dying from a gunshot wound. Martin told the operator that he would be outside waiting for police unarmed.

Related Articles:
Cincinnati Enquirer
Fox 19 Cincinnati (Includes clip of 911 call)
Cincinnati Post