Georgia man shoots and kills young Latino who accidentally pulled into his driveway
10:06 am - 01/30/2013
Rodrigo Diaz, 22, was driving around with his girlfriend and two friends when he pulled into a driveway, thinking they had arrived at another friend’s house, his brother says. But instead he pulled into the driveway of Phillip Sailors, 69, who thought his home was being robbed, his lawyer says. Sailors then shot Diaz, according to the police report, citing what Sailors told officers at the scene. Diaz later died while in the intensive care unit.
“Basically, what happened is they were looking for one of my brother’s girlfriend’s friends,” says his brother David E. Diaz-Valencia, 23. “The guy came outside and my brother’s girlfriend said he was screaming, ‘Get off my property!’ and he shot into the air. My brother was backing out fast because he was scared and he rolled down the window to say he was sorry and he was not doing anything wrong. Then the guy shot him in his head.”
When officers arrived, Angie Rebolledo, Diaz’s girlfriend, had blood on her jeans, both arms and both hands as she was attempting to get a response from him and screamed frantically that her boyfriend had been shot, according to police.
Police arrested Sailors, of Lilburn, Georgia, who was booked into the Gwinnett County jail Sunday afternoon and charged with murder, according to the police report.
“At this point we have established probable cause to charge Mr. Sailors and when the investigation is complete, we will turn over the case file to the Gwinnett County District Attorneys Officer for processing,” Lilburn police Chief Bruce Hedley told NBC Latino. “To preserve the integrity of the case, I will not be releasing further information concerning this incident.”
Sailors’ lawyer says his client is a Vietnam veteran with no prior criminal history and thought he and his wife were about to be victims of a home invasion. “You have to understand this is a 69-year-old man who is a military veteran who has been honorably discharged,” Michael Puglise says. “He dedicated his life to community service, specifically the Christian Lay Ministry in Latin America.”
Source
That said:
Sailors’ lawyer says his client is a Vietnam veteran with no prior criminal history and thought he and his wife were about to be victims of a home invasion. “You have to understand this is a 69-year-old man who is a military veteran who has been honorably discharged,” Michael Puglise says. “He dedicated his life to community service, specifically the Christian Lay Ministry in Latin America.”
I hate this line of reasoning so fucking much. He shot and killed someone who was trying to get away from him; this man's ~spotless military history~ (lol) doesn't matter worth a fuck.
No excuse whatsoever, if it was only a car pulling into the drive, no weapons shown, no threats, etc. What a complete overreaction, and now an innocent young man is dead. Very glad this guy's been arrested and charged.
SO FUCKING WHAT. HE'S ALSO A MURDERER.
JFC. He had no damn business shotting someone like that who had no weapon and was posing no imminent threat. STFD, lawyer. He can't get out of this one on privilege, whether that's white privilege, Christian privilege or anything else.
Edited at 2013-01-30 04:26 pm (UTC)
What a piece of shit.
I love how they mention *specifically* that he's worked with the ministry in Latin America. No doubt to try and say 'hey, he didn't MEAN to be a threat to this Latino dude! It was all a mistake! Look how many souls he's saved elsewhere!'
Ugh. I pull in to driveways and back up/turn around if I need to and there's nowhere else to turn around at. Since when does that equal potential home invasion? Who the hell greets people turning into their driveway with a freaking GUN??
SOME OF HIS BEST FRIENDS ARE LATINOS.
Poor guy, too awful to even begin to imagine.
edit for gif copying fail
Edited at 2013-01-30 04:41 pm (UTC)
Fuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufucky
How awful.
the poor girlfriend :/
A picture of Mr Sailors:
What innocence, is what I want to know? He shot a man in cold blood. He didn't ask what they were doing there, he didn't give them a chance to leave, he didn't do anything but shoot and kill someone. Ugh.
I feel that as a veretan, he had more reason to not be reckless. Shooting in the air? Irresponsible gun use. And shooting him in the head after he backed out and apologized is just disgusting.
Also, here is another article from the local news: http://www.ajc.com/news/news/man-69-acc
From the article:
According to [his attorney], Sailors grabbed his gun as he headed outside, firing a warning shot into the air. He said he fired at Diaz only after Diaz accelerated his car toward him.
“He thought he was going to get run down,” the lawyer said.
But the police report indicates that the vehicle was leaving Sailors’ property when Diaz was shot. Lilburn police said they found his red Mitsubishi at the end of the driveway. Diaz was slumped over the steering wheel, blood covering his face and, the incident report states, struggling to breathe.
What has transpired is absolutely abhorrent and outrageous and tragic beyond words. The fact that Diaz was murdered while doing something so mundane and typical makes it more chilling IMO. He turned around while not being white. That was his 'crime' Yet another beautiful young person who life is gone for nothing.
This is so awful, and such a waste of a young life. I'm Latina and, sadly, I'm relieved to at least be female so I maybe won't get accidentally murdered by a latently bigoted person with a gun.
I know that feeling. :c
Robbed from his DRIVEWAY? By people who didn't even get out of the car?
Fuck this guy ten ways from Sunday, and put his racist ass in prison for the murder he committed.
I really can't with this guy...