Back in the spring of 2020, a story out of Fredericksburg, Texas, showed how important it is for the vulnerable to remain able to protect themselves. Then, a 19-year-old male broke into a home in the town and assaulted 73-year-old Curtis Roys, but was fortunately able to be stopped by the man’s armed fiancee.
According to the Gillespie County Sheriff’s Office, the incident occurred at around 1 am, when the suspected home invader, Cleto Neri Solorzano, started pounding on the home’s back door. He might have been on a narcotic or other drug at the time. That’s when a resident of the home, 73-year-old Curtis Roys, woke up to the sound of the pounding on the door and went to investigate.
Unfortunately for Mr. Roys, he was apparently unarmed, as when Solorzano broke through the door on which he had been pounding, the home invasion quickly turned into a potentially deadly assault. Encountering Mr. Roys inside the home, Solorzano beat him with a blunt object and then placed him in a chokehold, either of which could have killed the elderly man.
But, despite the horrible circumstance, there was still hope for Mr. Roys: his fiancee, 65-year-old Melody Lumpkin, was armed. She first pled with Solorzano to stop attacking Mr. Roys. When he refused to comply, she retrieved a handgun from their bedroom and opened fire on Solorzano. Her first shot was a warning shot, but it didn’t scare off the attacker.
So she fired again, noticing that Mr. Roys was not moving and so her time might be running out. That second shot struck Solorzano in the head. Mr. Roys fortunately regained consciousness, and the couple then called 911.
After the incident, Solorzano was taken to a local hospital. There, he was pronounced dead. Fortunately, Mr. Roy was expected to recover from his injuries after the attack and Ms. Lumpkin did not face any charges because she acted in self-defense and in defense of her fiancee, inside their home.
Texas’ castle doctrine law provides, “A person in lawful possession of land or tangible, movable property is justified in using force against another when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary to prevent or terminate the other’s trespass on the land or unlawful interference with the property.”
Though the incident occurred in April of 2020 and so is old, at this point, it is still relevant in that in these days of high crime and often-absent police forces, it shows the importance of being armed and able to act in self-defense if such a horrible situation ever presents itself. Mr. Roys could not defend himself from Solorzano. Ms. Lumpkin hardly could have fought off the young intruder with her hands. But, because she was armed and knew how to use the firearm, she was able to save her fiancee and defend herself, acting in a way allowed by Texas law.
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