After 13-year-old boy’s fatal shooting, legal experts say deadly force typically can’t be used to defend property

As Washington, D.C. law states that protecting property doesn’t usually justify the use lethal force, experts in criminal and legal justice said that police are investigating the death of a 13 year-old boy.

Police have stated that Karon Blake was killed by a man who went to his house with a registered firearm in order to investigate the possibility of someone tampering or damaging vehicles in his area. Police said that the two men had an “interaction” and the man then fired his weapon on the boy.

While additional details about the interaction have not been released and the shooting remains under investigation, outrage has been brewing from area community groups and others who have criticized the use of lethal force in response to an alleged property crime and demanded the release of the man’s name and any visual evidence.

Experts in legal law agreed that the use of deadly force to protect property is not legal. This exception could be made for self-defense or home invasion.

Danny Cevallos, NBC News legal analyst said that he does not know of any law that permits the use of deadly force for property defense. “It’s always been the case that you can’t use deadly force to protect your property.”

Experts said that they do not wish to reveal details of the shooting because the authorities have not released them to the public.

However, John Copacino, a professor of law and the director of the Criminal Justice Clinic at Georgetown University in Washington, said: “The law is pretty clear that you cannot use deadly force in defense of personal property.

“You can only use reasonable, non-deadly force to defend against the deprivation of personal property,” he said.

David Pucino, the deputy chief counsel of the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said that as a general matter in Washington and in the U.S. as a whole, “you are permitted to use lethal force if you think there’s a serious threat of serious bodily injury to yourself.”

However, he said that lethal force is not permitted to defend property in Washington and other parts of the United States.

Both Pucino and Copacino said there is an exception in Washington for people’s using lethal force when facing intruders trying to break into their homes, especially if they believe the intruders are breaking in to commit felonies.

“But if we’re talking about a situation where that’s not the case, where there’s not the invasion of the home as part of the fact pattern, then D.C. law is clear that you cannot use lethal force to defend property,” Pucino said.

Mayor Muriel bowser claimed Wednesday that Karon was shot and killed by a District Government employee. He is not involved in public security. His identity has not been revealed.

Karon was Black. Robert J. Contee III, Chief of Police, stated that the man who shot Karon was Black and had a concealed carry license. Police said that the man dialed 911 and was performing CPR at the time officers arrived.

The case is still under active investigation, Contee said, and police are working with the U.S. attorney’s office on the possibility of charges. He indicated that the case would be taken to a grand jury.

Contee stated Tuesday that shootings cannot be justified if people are in fear for their own lives or those of others.

“Those are the facts that we have to sift through to figure out, hey, did that happen? And based upon the information that we have, present that information to a grand jury to see if that is reasonable,” he said.

Karon’s grandfather called Wednesday for the shooter’s swift arrest and conviction and said his grandson “didn’t get a chance to grow up.”

“He’s too young — 13 years old,” Sean Long said. “That’s what’s killing me. He’s a baby.”

This article was first published on NBCNews.com