18 year old Sarah McKinley’s husband died of lung cancer on Christmas day, leaving behind the grieving widow to care for their 3 month old son. Days later, Justin Martin and Dustin Stewart, high on drugs, broke into her house and attempted to rob her, hoping to score painkillers they hoped her late husband name behind.
It was a bad plan
Much of her ordeal was captured in a recording of the 911 call in which she asked for help — and also asked for permission to shoot if necessary.
“There’s a guy at my door and I’m here by myself with my infant baby. Can I please get a dispatcher out here immediately?” McKinley asks in a voice that is both steady, but tinged with emotion. Grady County dispatcher Diane Graham asks McKinley whether her doors are locked. Her steely answer: “Yes. I’ve got two guns in my hand. Is it OK to shoot him if he comes in my door?”
“I can’t tell you that you can do that,” Graham answers, “but you do what you have to do to protect your baby.”
Justin Shane Martin, 24, of Blanchard, died clutching a knife in his gloved left hand, according to court records filed in Grady County district court. His alleged accomplice, Dustin Louis Stewart, 29, also of Blanchard, shown above, later turned himself in to police.
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McKinley told NewsOK that she tried to hold off as long as she could, waiting for police to arrive, while Martin kept pounding on the front door. At one point, she gave her son a bottle to keep him from crying too loud — and possibly alerting the intruders to her specific location.
“I didn’t want to give away my position in the house, I wanted to see him first,” she said of the intruders during this video interview with NewsOK.
But about 21 minutes later, with no law enforcement officer in sight, Martin pushed his way in the door.
“I was standing in the bedroom doorway with a shotgun in my hand … when he did come in the door … I told 911 I was going to shoot and I did. And he just kind of fell over the couch.”
She said she feels bad — but has no regrets.
“I felt like what I did was the best decision for my son and I. Obviously when someone breaks into your house with a deadly weapon, they’re not here for anything good. But I am very sorry and it’s not something I ever wanted to do.”
McKinley will not be charged as she acted in self-defense. We wish her and her child only happiness and success from now on.
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- Oklahoma teen mom called ‘hero’ for fatally shooting intruder (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- Teen mom won’t be charged after shooting intruder – CANOE (cnews.canoe.ca)
- Widowed Teen Mom Shoots Intruder to Protect Infant Son (people.com)
- Woman Kills Intruder After Asking 911 Operator For Permission To Shoot Him [Crime] (jezebel.com)
