TEEN MOWED DOWN (SHOT) OVER LAWN Just killed a kid, man tells 911

The Winnipeg Sun ^ | March 21, 2006 | AP

[beaversmom]

BATAVIA, Ohio -- A man who neighbours say was devoted to his meticulously kept lawn is charged with murder in the shooting of a 15-year-old boy who apparently walked across his yard.

Charles Martin, 66, of Union Township, near this city about 30 kilometres east of Cincinnati, shot next-door neighbour Larry Mugrage in the chest with a shotgun about 3:30 p.m. Sunday, police said. The youth was pronounced dead at hospital.

Martin was being held without bond yesterday in Clermont County Jail. Police said he told them he had several disputes about neighbours walking on his lawn. But Union Township police Lieut. Scott Gaviglia said Martin had no criminal history and last called police in 2003.

Martin called 911 on Sunday, saying in a calm voice: "I just killed a kid."

He also tells the dispatcher: "It's been going on for five years ... I've been harassed by him and his parents for five years. Today just blew it up."

STUNS NEIGHBOURHOOD

The deadly shooting stunned those in the neighbourhood and students at Glen Este High School, where Martin was a freshman, and grief counsellors were on hand yesterday.

"I think there's a great deal of shock, for two reasons: because of the age of the victim and just how this occurred, killed over some grass," Gaviglia said.

Neighbours said Martin lived alone quietly, often sitting out in front of his one-storey home with its neat lawn, well-trimmed shrubbery and flag pole with U.S. and navy flags flying.

In his fenced backyard, he had several birdhouses and a shed painted like a small red barn with white trim.

[stands2reason]

The kid was just questioning authority--like his parents taught him.

You know this family?

[dpa5923]

I don't know what to say.

You post is irrational, illogical and seriously legally flawed. I wouldn't know where to begin so I will let this go.

[BluH2o]

Find a way to ID the perps, then call on their parents with a lawyer and a cop. Works like a charm. They never returned and told their friends that our lot is off limits.

If the damage is infrequent, occurs in the middle of the night, and no one witnesses it ... short of the punks running into a large tree it's very difficult to identify them. Thought about installing a claw like device that would snap up from the lawn when triggered by a heavy weight and take out the bottom of the car ... diabolical, but effective to be sure.

[luvbach1]

Caption:

Dag nabit, that'll that's learn 'im.

[stands2reason]

But the old man had an American flag!

And the kid was a TEENAGER!

So of course everything the man said is absolutely true!



(/sarcasm)

[Shalom Israel]

You post is irrational, illogical and seriously legally flawed.

Begin by pointing out one single logical error. Pick one. Since it's so incredibly irrational, there must be plenty to choose from. To simplify your task, I will condence the entire argument into one sentence:

If I am not interfering with anyone else's person or property, on what grounds can they justify intervening forcibly to make me do what they wish?

(Note, before things get any hotter, I should mention that I'm annoyed by your response because, being a mathematician with a PhD, I'm mortally insulted by the suggestion that I'm even capable of producing something as illogical as you imply. I've spent literally years training people to know just a bit of what I do on the subject of logic.)

[Sofa King]

"9News was told that Mugrage was a straight-A student, loved to play soccer and was well-liked by his neighbors."

Now that well-liked, apparently.

[Sofa King]

Yes, and when they don't have parents to slap them upside the head for it they grow up to be adults who keep doing it.

[chalkfarmer]

Damn a 410 snake charmer is my fave.

[al baby]

I think you need to stop smoking the grass

[Shalom Israel]

I think you need to stop smoking the grass

If you have any rational arguments to advance, I stand ready to consider them. Otherwise, have a nice day.

[Dianna]

What is really wild is that court room testimony over what number means what in which photo can last for days in a criminal case and sometimes weeks in a homicide.

Thanks for the info. It's interesting how meticulous they must be.

[Paridel]

This individual (the lawn guy) had been provoked by this kid, his family, and likely other kids for five years. He has no previous police record.

What the heck? There is only one source that attests to the fact that he was being provoked for the past five years: him. He shot a 15 year old over his lawn being walked on. The other neighbor described him as a "nice kid".

Young teenagers (16 & 17 year old) were driving over lawns in the middle of the night, spinning their tires and throwing in a wheelie or two for good measure.

This is completely different. Those kids were punks. This boy was just walking across the lawn in the middle of the day. He was probably cutting a corner to get to his house. Even according to the old man there was no vandalism, "hooliganism", etc. involved in the day in question. The kid was simply touching his grass. I can understand why you have some misplaced anger, but don't make this kid sound guilty by proxy.

I have lived next to some pretty crazy old farts in my day. Bitter individuals who were simply mad that children existed in their immediate vicinity. I would bet this guy would fit right into that group.

I'm a grad student now, so it wasn't too long ago that I was a teenage boy. I couldn't go anywhere without people I didn't know treating me with suspicion or tailing me in stores. And I was a very clean cut & polite guy. You have to expect some of that as teenager, just part of coming of age.

But you are so quick to assume the old man is in the clear because 'he has no previous police record'. Guess what? neither did the boy. There is difference though: the old man is still alive. The group of FReepers who have posted here who assume this boy was guilty just cause he was 15 make me sick. He is dead, and he didn't deserve it.

-paridel

[MikefromOhio]

I live in Springfield, OH.

That guys grass looks like crap because it hasn't really started GROWING yet.

Hell now it's under 1-2" of snow.

It sounds like this old nutcase snapped on that kid and the kid paid for it with his life.

Lock him up and throw away the key. Better yet, give him the needle and be done with it.

[Leto]

This individual (the lawn guy) had been provoked by this kid, his family, and likely other kids for five years. He has no previous police record ... bottom line, the guy snapped and killed the kid. We had a rash of lawn damage occur in our neighborhood a few years back. Young teenagers (16 & 17 year old) were driving over lawns in the middle of the night, spinning their tires and throwing in a wheelie or two for good measure. It finally stopped when one of the punks side swiped a industrial strength mail box and tore up his car. If you're a home owner who takes pride in keeping your property up, this type of hooliganism can make you angry as hell. Have to say I harbored a few dark thoughts of my own upon upon waking up one summer morning and surveying the damage done to my lawn by some idiot kid (s) with an automobile.

When I was a 10 -15 yr old kid I walked on peoples lawns, people weren't as insane in my town, so I wasn't shot. Walking across a lawn is a lot different than driving a car IMHO.

[Joe 6-pack]

" ...near the sleeping mexican or lawn jockey statues..."

I don't think anyone got a good look at the gunslinger....

[Albion Wilde]

Mr Martin had other recourse, however in the atmosphere of the court room today there is probably a 50/50 chance of a ruling against him. A few of those rulings and soon you will have your front door open to anyone who needs to use the bathroom and just happens to be walking by. The courts are losing their concept of the rights of landowners....I would have to assume... the kid's parents did nothing about it although they had been warned. Just a little discipline here and that young man would be in class today rather than at a funeral home. Okay, folks you all just flame away.

No flaming from me. It is regrettable that he didn't just fire a warning shot near the boy's feet and take his lumps for that; but I agree that most Community Associations and local governments now take a socialist view of private property, yet have no compunction about forcing owners to insure and maintain said property. I have actually had people come up to the fence and ask to use the bathroom! What if I had no fence?

And yes, if this harassment was going on for 5 years, the parents are surely to blame for not disciplining their little darling, who is now in a cold, cold grave. They can sue until they are blue in the face, and it's too late.

[durasell]

I heard the shooter was Germanic looking...

http://www.cleanairgardening.com/stgagnwish11.html

[DOGEY]

I'd like to see a picture of the lawn first...

It's March in Ohio. What can a lawn look like after months of winter?

[durasell]

Image of the guy's house above. Pretty sad stuff...