Seven-Year-Old Boy Mistaken for Trespasser Dies From Gunshot Wound

[Mosinshooter762]

What emotions are clouding the fact of a 7 year old being shot in the head with a shotgun? I am not ready to convict, but I am ready to say someone shot a 7 year old in the head and whoever that was should be strung up. Based upon the news reports (there are several from several sources, not all posted here) the people who allegedly shot the child (the shooting is not alleged, but rather who the shooter was is alleged) have confessed on tape to the 911 dispatcher.

You have shifted from arguing why the word allegedly is used by the media to arguing that everything about this case is an allegation. If you can't see that distinction allegedly you need to pull your head out of your rectal cavity, assuming you actually have the alleged rectal cavity. Having never inspected your rectal cavity I can not be certain it exists.

I would still like to see some supporting evidence that the media uses the word allegedly less now than in the past as you alleged.

You mention a topic about shooting a child threat as if it had been discussed ad nauseum then post a thread that hasn't had a post in it for 1 and 1/2 years. Damn that search function is great. The point I am making is you seem to be grasping here.

The whole Joe Horn thing was more the injection of your opinion into your "facts" of the case. If you are only looking at facts you should not be coloring your posts about it with terms like "Texas robots" or comments about how Texas Grand Juries are apt to not indict for questionable shootings. The facts of that case are citizens of the State of Texas vindicated Joe Horn so as far as the facts are concerned according to your logic this is not at all questionable.

I can remember more recent talks about younger people in defensive situations, I just couldn't find them. You can call it stale, or whatever you want, but the fact remains it was talked about here. As for the robots on the grand jury, I don't know about you, but if I ever have to defend myself, or my family, I want a Texas grand jury to hear my case. You can choose the New Jersey grand jury, I'll take the Texas one any day. There is nothing wrong with that.

[adymond]

I can remember more recent talks about younger people in defensive situations, I just couldn't find them. You can call it stale, or whatever you want, but the fact remains it was talked about here. As for the robots on the grand jury, I don't know about you, but if I ever have to defend myself, or my family, I want a Texas grand jury to hear my case. You can choose the New Jersey grand jury, I'll take the Texas one any day. There is nothing wrong with that.

.<---Point Meaning you have totally missed it. --->You


Opinions and emotions have nothing to do with discussions of fact. Your preference for a Texas Grand Jury has nothing to do with the fact that Mr. Horn was exhonerated.

You talked about people shifting the argument before, but you seem pretty adept at it yourself. Back to your assertion about the term allegedly being used less and less by the media. I would like to see your source for that. Or at least some supporting data.

Sure it may have been discussed before, but you were attempting to assert that somehow this 7 year old was a threat to the alleged shooters (again it is only the identity of the shooter that is alleged, but not the fact that a 7 year old was shot in the head) or that there might be some justification. My position on that is with at least several other adults present with the 7 year old there is no justification to fire upon the child and take a head shot. I still haven't seen a tactical scenerio presented where the 7 year old would be the highest priority target.

As an aside it seems like a good many of your posts in this thread might have been scrubbed of contridictory statements you may have made and may have been called on.

[Mosinshooter762]

.<---Point Meaning you have totally missed it. --->You


Opinions and emotions have nothing to do with discussions of fact. Your preference for a Texas Grand Jury has nothing to do with the fact that Mr. Horn was exhonerated.

You talked about people shifting the argument before, but you seem pretty adept at it yourself. Back to your assertion about the term allegedly being used less and less by the media. I would like to see your source for that. Or at least some supporting data.

Sure it may have been discussed before, but you were attempting to assert that somehow this 7 year old was a threat to the alleged shooters (again it is only the identity of the shooter that is alleged, but not the fact that a 7 year old was shot in the head) or that there might be some justification. My position on that is with at least several other adults present with the 7 year old there is no justification to fire upon the child and take a head shot. I still haven't seen a tactical scenerio presented where the 7 year old would be the highest priority target.

As an aside it seems like a good many of your posts in this thread might have been scrubbed of contridictory statements you may have made and may have been called on.

I never said that this was in any way self-defense! I just said that it had been discussed in the past, and that in some situations it could be possible that it was. Never said it was the case here. Stop putting words in my mouth. Keep going on about alleged mysterious contradictory statements I made, while you contradict what I have said. Oh, I still don't think that the Texas grand jury is simple explained as just as a preference. I have read other forums where lawyers have said that it is very hard to get a Texas grand jury to indict in situations that even remotely appear as self-defense, especially if the person is sympathetic. (Such as protecting family). If that is true, that helped Mr. Horn. You can not deny that. He may have been ultimately acquitted, or his conviction overturned on appeal, but the grand jury made sure he didn't go through any of that.

[ImminentDanger]

In addition to the obvious facts (can I say that??? or alleged facts).....

Here are a few other statements made in the the two news articles posted in Post #27 http://forum.pafoa.org/731194-post-27.html

"Cammack and the Coffeys were off-roading in the rural area on a levee that encircles a fishing lake. The area includes a dirt road, trees and a lot of overgrown brush, Bishop said, adding that it's not uncommon for people to go off-roading there."

"Donald Coffey Jr., his father and friends were on their way back from joy riding near a levee and swimming in the Trinity River around 9 p.m. Thursday when homeowners Gale and Sheila Muhs fired at them with a 12-gauge shotgun, police say."

I'd like an explanation of 'Off-Roading' and 'Joy Riding' ... not an assumption but what that actually entailed in this particular case ... and what other similar activities had been 'not uncommon' in the past - ie, were they causing damage to the area and adjoining properties...

"Nelton said the ordeal happened over two or three minutes in “pitch darkness.”

While incredibly irresponsible, and legally liable for the consequences, it would appear the shooters may have been completely unaware that children were in the two vehicles.

"The men stopped to use the bathroom and got out of the Jeep near the Muhses’ home in the Westlake subdivision south of Dayton when a woman’s voice boomed through the darkness, Nelton said.

In a message peppered with expletives, she said, the voice ordered the group to get their vehicles off the property."

So there was some kind of warning before the shooting, but no indication of how long or whether those in the car responded in any way....

THERE IS NO JUSTIFICATION FOR SHOOTING BLINDLY - IN PITCH BLACK DARKNESS.....

But, there is still more information to come to light that will be taken into account as to the actual charges filed and what the jury will consider.....

... Stay Safe ...
ID

[ImminentDanger]

Story Link Here

Amid tragic loss come acts of love

Liberty County shooting victim’s organs save 3 children
By CINDY HORSWELL - HOUSTON CHRONICLE
May 15, 2009, 1:24PM

Donald Coffey views himself as a father above all else and says that ethic dictates his every choice.

Even during the maddening grief he felt after the fatal shooting a week ago of his 7-year-old son, his own namesake whom he affectionately called “Junior,” he would not compromise his principle.

His thoughts turned to the two young sons of the couple charged with shooting his boy, and he decided to make sure they were being cared for. He thought, too, of other families going through the same pain as he and his wife, and they decided to donate their son’s organs.

Gale and Sheila Muhs are in the Liberty County Jail, charged in the shooting that killed Donald Coffey Jr. and wounded his father, his 5-year-old sister, Destiny, and family friend Patrick Cammack, 30.

The Muhses have two boys, ages 8 and 16, attending the same Dayton school district as Coffey’s two surviving children.

While eager for justice for his son, Coffey went to the school district offices to check on the welfare of the Muhses’ boys and learned they were safely at a grandmother’s home outside the district.

“I didn’t want anybody to bother them or pick on them. They’re not at all responsible for this,” Coffey said in his first interview since the shooting.

Dayton Superintendent Greg Hayman was surprised to learn of Coffey’s concern for the Muhses’ boys.

“I think it was an amazing expression of love in the face of insurmountable loss,” Hayman said. “It gives people hope.”

Family knew the Muhses
The group was returning from joy riding near a levee and swimming in the Trinity River when the shooting happened. They had pulled over in their vehicles on a publicly accessible road near the Muhses’ home, where a sign posted in front of their tiny house said trespassers would be shot and survivors would be shot again.

The Muhses, both 45, are charged with aggravated assault, and officials said today those charges could be upgraded next week. The Liberty County Sheriff’s Office said Sheila Muhs called 911 after the shooting and reported, “They’re running over our levee in big-wheel vehicles, and I shot them.”

Despite that matter-of-fact explanation, Coffey doesn’t understand why the tragedy had to happen.

In the past, he said, he has given four-wheeler rides to the Muhses’ 8-year-old boy. He also recalls friendly visits with the Muhs family, including a jovial conversation with Sheila Muhs and her eldest son two hours before the shooting.

In those awful moments after the shooting, Coffey faced many decisions, but he said probably the most difficult was donating his son’s organs so other children might live.

He remembers “feeling weird” and unsure how his wife, Becky, would react. Their son’s organs were kept oxygenated after doctors declared him brain-dead Saturday at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston.

Coffey knew his wife was struggling as much as he was to accept that their blond, bespectacled boy would never again run through the mud or ride through the Liberty County countryside he loved.

While most of the events at the hospital are a blur, Coffey remembers eventually telling hospital staff that he supported donating his son’s organs. But he ached at the thought of asking his wife’s permission, saying he just couldn’t do it.

That’s when he learned that his wife had given her permission minutes earlier.

“Neither of us could imagine having another family go through this, if we could help it,” he said. “There’s no words that exist in the dictionary that can describe what we’ve been through. It’s indescribable.”

Helping three children
When the Coffeys left the hospital without their son, they were told his organs had been used to save the lives of three children.

“I don’t know if there were any others later. It’s irrelevant to me,” Coffey said. “I won’t ask.”

But one day, the Coffeys would like to meet those who received the organs.

“We hope to know their names and talk to them,” he said. “We can’t force it, but we would like it.”

Catherine Burch Graham, spokeswoman for LifeGift, the organ and tissue recovery agency that handled the Coffey case, said she will help the couple compose a letter to the recipients about meeting.

“We usually wait at least six months because not only the families of the donors, but sometimes recipients, have emotional challenges,” she said, such as feeling guilty for being alive when another died.

Usually, only children have the organs small enough for other children, she said, and many die before one becomes available. Nearly 10,000 children and adults are waiting on transplant lists in Texas, and one in three will die before they have a donor, records show.

Graham said Donald Jr.’s legacy will be his gift to other children with life-threatening health issues.

cindy.horswell@chron.com

[DaveBigelow]

Regardless, the point should revolve around the fact the mischievous intent let to a heightened chance of danger. Doing what you are supposed to do 9 times out of 10 will keep you out of the line of fire.. and that tenth time you had better be ready.

[adymond]

Regardless, the point should revolve around the fact the mischievous intent let to a heightened chance of danger. Doing what you are supposed to do 9 times out of 10 will keep you out of the line of fire.. and that tenth time you had better be ready.

What mischevious intent was there? Enlighten me? Drivig on public lands and roadways?

[DaveBigelow]

There seemed to be no intent at all. My point is that in general, if you are screwing around then people are more prone to get agitated and do something like pull a gun out. The fault is in the latter, pulling a firearm prematurely