A man who shot and killed an innocent bystander during a confrontation with a group of teenagers is free.

36-year-old Shannon Anthony Scott was arrested for the murder of 17-year-old Darrell Andre Niles, an unarmed black teen found shot to death in his car in 2010.

Richland County Judge Maite Murphy threw out the murder charges against Scott ruling that he “reasonably believed his life was in danger and is therefore immune from prosecution by the state’s Protection of Persons and Property ACT…” The act is the state’s version of the controversial Stand Your Ground law.

From Raniakhalek

Scott, who had intended to shoot at a car full of teen girls on the street outside his home, says he shot Niles, who was also parked outside, by mistake. That the victim was an innocent bystander rather than one of the alleged “aggressors” sets a new precedent for the application of Stand Your Ground, which can now shield people who are bad shots and accidentally shoot a bystander, from prosecution.

Read more at Raniakhalek

The decision marks the first time that Stand Your Ground immunity has been awarded to someone for killing an innocent bystander.

Scott maintains that he was protecting his daughter and her friends from a group of “women thugs” who had followed them home that night.

WOW.

This is taking Stand Your Ground to an entirely new level.

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