Home invasion suspect killed attempting to rob condo, accomplices charged

Columbus media are reporting that one robber is dead and two accomplices have been charged with murder because of their roles in a home invasion robbery in which a person was killed.

From WTTE (Fox Columbus):

Officers found Nathaniel Easley, 24, in the middle McAndrews Way at the McNeil Farms condo complex shortly after 7:00 p.m.

He was pronounced dead at Mt. Carmel East.

Easley was shot in a nearby condo, where he and two other men were doing robbery, police said.

Investigators said they charged Khomary Rand, 23, and Deshawn Lovejoy, 26, with murder because of their roles in the crime that led to the deadly shooting.

Officers arrested Rand and Lovejoy near the crime scene after witnesses gave police a description of car fleeing the scene, and an officer spotted the vehicle "driving very erratically to elude being caught," detectives wrote in court documents.

Police have not identified the homeowner who apparently was able to use a firearm to defend themselves.

Under Ohio's Castle Doctrine law, if someone unlawfully enters or attempts to enter an occupied home or temporary habitation, or occupied car, citizens have an initial presumption that they may act in self defense, and will not be second-guessed by the State.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary, BFA PAC Vice Chairman, and an NRA-certified firearms instructor. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website.