A wandering man suffering from Alzheimer's was mistaken to be a burglar and died after being shot at; however, the "stand-your-ground" law in Georgia may help the accused get away scot-free without any charges.
On Wednesday, November 27, at around 4 am, Ronald Westbrook, aged 72 years, and his two dogs had walked around three miles from his home on Carlock Circle to Cottage Crest Court in Chickamauga, a neighborhood near the Tennessee border, in sub-freezing temperatures.
Westbrook rang Joe Hendrix's doorbell, turned the doorknob and wandered into the yard at around four in the morning. Hendrix, who rents the house, claims that he gave verbal commands to Westbrook to stop but he continued walking towards him.
Hendrix feared for his safety and fired his handgun four times at Westbrook and killed him with a bullet to the chest. Westbrook was found holding on to letters mailed to a home he used to live in previously. He was said to be wearing just a light jacket and a straw hat despite the extreme cold temperatures.
Authorities said that Westbrook suffered from advanced Alzheimer's and was also disoriented. Westbrook was possibly suffering from exhaustion when he rang Hendrix's doorbell.
Hendrix's fiancée was talking on the phone with 911 when the shooting occurred and it took around 10 minutes for deputies to arrive at the shooting scene.
Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said that he had no doubts that Hendrix felt threatened when Westbrook continued walking towards him despite warnings and the "stand-your-ground" law may come to rescue Hendrix.
Under the "stand-your-ground" law, when a person feels physical threat, he is permitted to use force to stop the person who is threatening. The law also suggests that a person does not have to retreat even if backing down from the situation is a possibility.
The sheriff states that Hendrix is definitely saddened and heartbroken, but he has to live with the incident for his entire life.
