Posted on 10/26/2003 4:41:29 AM PST by lifacs
Sunday, October 26
Teen pulling prank killed by neighbor
By Sarah Eisenhauer and Cynthia Kopkowski, Palm Beach Post Staff Writers Sunday, October 26, 2003
A birthday celebration capped off by an early-morning round of mischievous doorbell ringing ended in the death of a Boca Raton-area teenager early Saturday after a neighbor who believed his home was about to be burgled shot and killed the boy, deputies said.
Mark Andrew Drewes, a popular Pope John Paul II High School sophomore who celebrated his 16th birthday at a party Friday night, died from a single gunshot wound at Delray Medical Center. The shooting occurred shortly after 12:30 a.m. in the Woodbury neighborhood, a quiet, upper middle class neighborhood in the Boca Del Mar region.
The man who shot Drewes, Jay Steven Levin, 40, was not arrested, Palm Beach County sheriff's spokeswoman Diane Carhart said. Investigators questioned Levin at his home at 6115 Woodbury Road and collected evidence but did not take him into custody, Carhart said.
"He's a homeowner there," she said. "He was very cooperative."
The Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office will review the evidence and determine whether Levin's actions were justifiable self-defense or grounds for criminal charges, spokesman Mike Edmondson said.
When Levin, a Palm Beach County businessman who lived alone, was awakened from his sleep by a knock at the door early Saturday, he armed himself with a handgun and answered it, deputies said. He told deputies he saw someone he believed was holding a weapon.
Levin fired one shot, hitting Drewes, according to deputies. The boy ran into a neighbor's yard and collapsed.
"He feared for his life," Carhart said of Levin, adding that the teenager was 6-feet-2 and 210 pounds. "So he's a big 16-year-old."
Gathered at a family member's home Saturday morning, Drewes' relatives disputed Levin's self-defense claim and said they were furious that he was not arrested and charged with a crime Saturday.
"How can they call that self-defense?" said a family member who asked not to be identified. "If they thought it was a burglar, what kind of burglar knocks?"
The previous night, the large family and a bunch of friends had gathered at the house on Woodbury, where the Drewes have lived for about 10 years, for birthday cake. The teenager had been eagerly looking forward to three things: his 16th birthday, when he would be able to trade in his learner's driving permit for the real thing; the family party; and his school's homecoming dance Saturday.
"It was such a good day," said his grandmother Patricia Drewes, who drove from her Stuart home for the birthday party. "He was so happy. He told me it was the best day of his life."
Throughout the evening Friday, Drewes and his friends darted back and forth between his home and the fall festival at nearby St. Jude Catholic Church and school, where he graduated from eighth grade two years ago.
About 11:30 p.m., Drewes and a friend decided to go for a walk, family members said.
"They were playing knock on the door and run," said one family member. "They were being silly. They weren't bad kids."
Family members said the teen who was with Drewes told them he was not holding anything in his hand.
Investigators did not find a weapon on the victim, Carhart said. They confiscated Levin's handgun as evidence, she said.
Carhart said ringing doorbells and running is not generally considered to be a crime.
Family contends teen was shot in back
The sheriff's office would not release the name of the teenager who was with Drewes Saturday morning. Nor would it confirm the family's assertion that morgue officials told them Saturday afternoon that Drewes was shot in the back.
Carhart said the sheriff's office did not know when an autopsy was to take place.
A shirtless and red-eyed Levin answered the door to his neatly landscaped home Saturday morning, but said only, "I can't talk to you," in response to a reporter's questions.
State records show Levin ran his own business called Caxin Consulting Inc. from his home since 2001. He filed papers dissolving that corporation in August. Before that, he was listed as president of two other businesses, which are now inactive, the Halifax Group Inc. and L&L Accounting Inc.
Levin has a concealed weapons permit, according to state records.
He has lived at 6115 Woodbury, which has a market value of $195,000, since December 1996, according to county property appraiser records. It's on the next block from the Drewes home, several houses up the street.
Levin's doorbell was not the only one the boys rang Saturday morning. Residents up and down the 6100 block of Woodbury reported being awakened by ringing doorbells and knocks shortly after midnight. Most said they sloughed it off or answered the door, found nobody there and went back to bed. But a second round of frantic pounding and shouting from Drewes' friend minutes later caught their attention.
"It was pounding, pounding," said Lauren Hahn, one of several residents who talked to the boy through her front door, then called 911. "He said 'Call 911. My friend's been shot.' He was hysterical."
Droopy-eyed neighbors repeated the same story as they gathered Saturday morning in small groups up and down the block, some just a few yards away from blood stains where Drewes fell.
Carol Quiroga, who lives across the street from Levin, heard nothing outside as she made her way to bed minutes before the shooting -- no arguing, no scuffling. A loud "pop," broke the silence, followed by someone saying calmly, "Call 911" once, then again, she said. What sounded like a boy's voice came next, saying "Help. I need help."
She expressed the same disbelief shared by Drewes' family and several neighbors.
"What is so important that you are defending that you need a gun?" said Quiroga, the mother of two teenage boys, before breaking into tears.
"Teenage boys do things like that," she said.
Determining whether Levin's actions were protected by the state's self-defense laws now falls to State Attorney Barry Krischer's office. Someone can use force to protect his home if he think it's being burgled, Edmondson said, but it can only equal the force he's being threatened by.
And that law doesn't generally protect homeowners who use deadly force against someone coming into their yards or on their sidewalks, Edmondson said. That's considered trespassing.
"A trespass would not constitute a breach of someone's safety," he said.
If Krischer's office determines that Levin acted legally, the case is closed, Edmondson said. If the state attorney believes it was an unjustified killing, worthy of a second-degree murder charge or a lesser offense, he will charge Levin. If the evidence isn't clear-cut and could point to a first-degree murder charge, then Krischer will refer it to the grand jury, Edmondson said.
A man in Louisiana was cleared of wrongdoing in 1993 after he shot a Halloween-costumed Japanese exchange student knocking on his door looking for a party in 1992. He turned himself in after a grand jury had indicted him on charges of manslaughter in the killing of Yoshihiro Hattori of Nagoya, Japan. Hattori's friend testified in the trial that he was carrying a camera when they knocked on Rodney Peairs' door.
A shattered Drewes family Saturday described Mark as an A student and soccer player, the type of kid who easily made friends with just about everyone he met. More relatives from Brazil are expected to arrive today, along with Mark's father, Gregory, who is captain of a private yacht and was in France Saturday.
Many of Drewes' classmates would learn of his death at Pope John Paul II High's homecoming dance Saturday night, said the Rev. Guy Fiano, the school's president. Counselors were scheduled to be on hand at the dance and Monday at the school, a Catholic private school attended by 925 students, including 250 in Drewes' sophomore class. A prayer service is planned Monday for the "very well loved" student, Fiano said.
"It's very, very sad," he said. "I think it's going to be a very stressful week."
Student called 'very polite, very respectful'
Word began to spread Saturday morning through St. Jude's festival, a few blocks from where the shooting occurred. Standing amid the cotton candy vendors and whirling carnival rides, several attendees recalled the slain teenager as friendly and well-liked.
Classmate Danielle Denofa, 16, put her hand over her mouth and gasped when she heard the news.
"He was really nice," said Denofa, who attended YMCA teen camp with Drewes this summer. "I can't believe that happened."
Tracy McCarver, who taught Drewes math at St. Jude Catholic School, remembered him as a "very polite, very respectful" youngster with "a good sense of humor."
After this afternoon's youth Mass at St. Jude, members of his Life Teen group, a faith-based social organization, are expected to attend a special meeting, said Kevin Cleary, the church's religious education director and youth minister.
"Everyone's in a state of shock because of the senselessness of it," he said. "He was a boy's boy."
He called Drewes a "delightful" young man who could be relied on to help with every pancake breakfast, raffle and car wash that cropped up on his youth group's schedule. Before every Sunday night Life Teen meeting, Drewes was there setting up tables, Cleary said. When they ended, Drewes stayed to clean up.
"He was a beautiful, beautiful boy," said his aunt, Renata Piza. "He goes to church every week. He was so excited about turning 16."
Grandmother Drewes said he always greeted her on the phone by saying, "I love you, Nana."
"He's what you'd call the ideal son, just too good to be true," she said. "If there was some way I could understand this. It was so pointless."
sarah_eisenhauer@pbpost.com,cynthia_kopkowski@pbpost.com
I think most burglaries are during the daytime when nobody is at home. That being said, I think the kid got what he deserved. It is the parents fault.
"If the kid was ringing and running, and the homeowner with the gun saw him face to face that would mean he was waiting for him to show up. It is possible that as soon as the bell was rung the homeowner threw open the door and shot the kid as he was turning to run away."
Many on here are taking the homeowner's word that he was asleep when he heard a knock, got out of bed, got his gun and then went to the door, and the kid was still there during all that time. I don't believe it. Why would they all of a sudden decide to not run at that house? They weren't wearing masks (or it would have been mentioned/found out) so what's the point of staying there to be witnessed? Ask the survivor: How many seconds after the knock was the door opened?
I do believe the homeowner was just inside the door with his gun ready when your friend got there. The homeowner could be plain mean and/or in a bad mood, so that when he noticed kids going around the neighborhood he could have decided to put an end to their fun. Drugs or alcohol could have played a part and impaired his judgement, made him paranoid, angry, etc. Notice how it mentions his eyes being red:
A shirtless and red-eyed Levin answered the door to his neatly landscaped home Saturday morning, but said only, "I can't talk to you," in response to a reporter's questions.
By being a giant pain?
By annoying, bothering and yes, frightening people who he didn't know?
Your idea of "innocent fun" is quite warped.
What were you going to do for an encore? Hide in the bushes and jump out at people?
You and your friends are fools. And stupid in the bargain. People who are fools and stupid often come to an untimely end.
Allow me to explain a fact of life that you will find quite useful should you survive to grow up.
If you try to annoy, provoke, anger and frighten people... THEY WILL GET ANNOYED, PROVOKED, ANGRY AND FRIGHTENED!!!
When people are annoyed, provoked, angry and/or frightened sooner or later they will lash out. And someone is going to get hurt. That someone will likely be YOU.
When that happens expect me to shed no sad tears for you. You went looking for trouble. You found it.
Why you thought that this was a good idea I have no idea but I will venture to guess that you have been protected from any consequences of your actions for far to long.
Welcome to adulthood child. You are late arriving.
The problem I have with Ayoob is that he tends to "major in the minors". I read one of his articles recently and he was talking about why you should carry a DA pistol, or DA/SA, load the same ammo as the police use, etc....
Basically, the point of doing all this was to prevent a jury from convicting you of a crime if you use a weapon in SD. He cited some case examples where that info came out in court, but in none of the cases was it the deciding factor. By focusing on such small details, he overlooks the "big picture", IMHO, such as carrying the gun that is best for *you*, use of deadly force requirements, etc....
I think he still has some good ideas, he just gets carried away sometimes.
There was a Beavis and Butthead episode along those lines.
But even they weren't dumb enough to try it at night.
Yep. Life is hard. It's harder if you're stupid.
Looks like that punk learned the hard way.
Too bad his parents and the schools didn't instill in him a fundamental respect for the lives and property of others.
I still contend that there is a lot more to this story than "ding-dong-ditch" gone bad.
No. Unless it's not a Catholic school. Now that would be odd.
Oh. I didn't see in the story where this homeowner carried a loaded firearm to the door for every visitor. I missed that part.
He was up to no good. It's called "malicious mischief".
Mark never intended to harm or damage the man who shot him in any way.
Unfortunately, it doesn't matter what Mark intended. What matters is whether or not the homeowner reasonably perceived him as a threat.
...Also, for you information the game they were playing is called ding-dong-ditch. Its a popular game among teens where someone goes up to the door and knocks or rings the doorbell and when the door is opening runs away.
Yes, we're all familiar with the game, although in my day it was popular only among pre-teens and only during daylight hours. Strangely, I only remember it being fun when someone got really upset and started screaming and yelling like a lunatic. Is that what Mark was after?
The man who shot Mark was completely in the wrong and should be prosecuted to the fullest.
If the man is telling the truth then he's done nothing wrong and will probably not be prosecuted at all. People are supporting him here because they believe his story, not because the kid deserved to die.
I just want everyone out there to know that at Pope everyone who knew Mark liked and loved him and will miss him dearly, and if you really believe he did something wrong and it was his fault he's dead I hope you see some of the footage of our homecoming dance where kids were hysterical to the brink of nearly passing out. I was Mark's friend and I hope that for his sake, his poor mother and father, his extended family, and friends that this man who killed him in cold blood is put away for many years.
I'm sorry that your friend is dead, but he's dead because of a horrible accident that was at least partly his own fault.
Your eyes are not red after being woken up after a couple hours of sleep? Drugs are not the only thing that make your eyes red.......
Heck, he may have even been crying.
This guy is obviously unhinged and should be in a straight jacket before he does it again.
How do you know he goes to bed at 10:30 p.m. on Friday nights?
You think this kid deserved to die because he was playing ring and run??
I'm shocked at some of these comments here. Yes, it's irresponsible behavior, but who of us was a model, responsible citizen at 16?
My friends and I used to TP other peoples' yards late at night when we were about that age. We's sneak out from slumber parties and the parents wouldn't even know. We played ring and run when we were a little younger, although it was never at 12:30 a.m.
Thank God nobody was quick on the trigger at us back then, or I guess I'd be dead as "deserved."
And yes, I am a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment and I own a gun.
I have that feeling too. More information is needed before can say for sure wheither the shooting was justified or not but this teenager was certainly behaving badly.
Ringing the bell and running is one thing when you are eight and it is daylight. It is quite another thing when you are adult sized, it is the middle of the night and you stick around waiting for the owner to come out.
Finally, one day, one of 'em got out and got hit by the very same cement truck we had coming to fill in the holes under the fence.
Stupid bunch. We ended up putting them on the barby. Still got some packed away in the feezer.
Best way to protect yourself is to use good locks, concrete block and steel walls, and have your cellphone in good working order so you can call for help from a private security service.
Otherwise you are unfairly putting other peoples' lives at risk answering your door at 2:30 AM with a gun in your hand.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.