COLUMBUS, Ohio - A man pleaded guilty Friday to shooting a teenage girl who had been sneaking around outside his home with friends who considered the house spooky, a prosecutor said.
Allen Davis, 41, was given the maximum prison sentence of 19 years on the two counts of felonious assault, prosecutor Ron O'Brien said.
Authorities said Davis fired a rifle from his house at a carload of girls after hearing them outside the night of Aug. 22. Friends and relatives of the five girls have said the teens considered the house across from a cemetery in Worthington to be spooky.
Rachel Barezinsky was shot in the head and shoulder and underwent weeks of recuperation at a hospital.
In jailhouse interviews, Davis admitted firing the rifle but claimed he didn't mean to harm the teens, whom he considered trespassers. Davis' attorney Brian Rigg, said his client was trying to protect himself and his mother from repeated harassment at their property by young people.
"I'm sorry for what I did," Davis said in court before he was sentenced. "I regret what happened."
Three other assault charges were dropped against him as part of the plea deal just hours after lawyers gave opening statements Friday.
Davis had faced 43 years in prison if found guilty of all five counts.
i think they were a little old for the "spooky house" thing, i'm assuming that they were at least 16-17, because the media would have stressed the age if they were younger, so i'm gonna say everyone involved is an idiot
i think they were a little old for the "spooky house" thing, i'm assuming that they were at least 16-17, because the media would have stressed the age if they were younger, so i'm gonna say everyone involved is an idiot
I see it your way.I'm glad the girl will be OK,and maybe a lesson learned by all the other teens.But I also read provocation and frustration into the story also,a deadly combination.
wow, this surely is not the way to habdle a situation. This guy is not helping our cause at all. I hope with the time given to him to reflect on his actions he realises that there was no need for deadly force in this situation.
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Only fools rush where angels fear to tread
Conflict is inevitable, combat is an option
I'm generalizing of course, because I don't know the guy. But since he's 41 and still living with Mom, there's a possibility he had personality problems to begin with....
I'm generalizing of course, because I don't know the guy. But since he's 41 and still living with Mom, there's a possibility he had personality problems to begin with....
troy2000,I don't think we can go by that "still living with Mom"standard today.From what I see and hear,it's getting commonplace in this day and age,for people in their 30s or 40s to head back home,monetary reasons I guess.
troy2000,I don't think we can go by that "still living with Mom"standard today.From what I see and hear,it's getting commonplace in this day and age,for people in their 30s or 40s to head back home,monetary reasons I guess.
Yeah, that one's not a slam-dunk anymore, Joe (if it ever really was). But it's a possibility...
Sorry, I haven't been hear for a couple days and I figured I should chime in on this local story for me. And this of course hits close to home for me because of my hobby of ghost hunting.
Ok the whole story basically goes that a car full of high school girls went out to a "haunted house" in Westerville, OH. This house is sort of a local legend for high school students and people would go out there all the time. The guy finally snapped that night. He grabbed his gun and went out to scare off the girls. The girls left and he went back inside. Shortly after then the girls returned, again trying to check out this "haunted house." This time the guy came out and the girls ran back to the car and headed down the road away from the house. He shot 2 times at the car.
From the stand point of a Ghost hunter, the went againist the #1 rule in ghost hunting, get permission of the owners of the property before stepping foot on the property. But I will admit that I have also went againist that rule when I first started out doing what I do.
I agree that it seems like the guy over reacted. But this guy had been harrassed by high schoolers on his property for years and years. The police have been called there by him so many times, but of course they just tell the teens to go home and nothing is done. I guess this time he did something about it because no one else was.
And the story goes that he lived at home with his mother because she is sick and is getting up in years and he has been taking care of her.
I'm generalizing of course, because I don't know the guy. But since he's 41 and still living with Mom, there's a possibility he had personality problems to begin with....
Now that made me laugh my arse off! Good analogy of the situation!!
Ouch! 
that's a good point. However, it doesn't ecuse his actions. I feel his pain.
