No firearms charges against woman, 87 [Homeowner shoots and kills burglar who beat her with rock]

An 87-year-old woman who fatally shot a would-be intruder will not be charged with a crime, even though she did not legally own the gun, authorities said Monday.

On Feb. 7, Jacksie Mae King fired several shots through the front door of her house after she woke up about 2 a.m. to the sounds of someone trying to break in.

One bullet hit Larry Tillman, 49, who was on the other side of the door, standing on King's enclosed porch.

He lay dead on the porch in the 2100 block of Gaty Avenue for four hours before he was found by King's daughter, who came to bring breakfast about 6 a.m. Meanwhile, King stayed inside clutching the pistol.

"She was justified in using deadly force to defend herself against the threat of deadly force," said Robert B. Haida, the St. Clair County state's attorney.

King did not have a Firearm Owner's Identification card, which is required to own a gun in Illinois, Haida said.

He said it would be inappropriate in the interest of justice to prosecute her for the illegally owned gun.

Ya think?

King's daughter gave her the .32-caliber Colt revolver two months earlier after a man broke into King's house in December. That intruder beat her and stole some of her things.

Evidence is being tested to determine whether Tillman, who lived near King, was responsible for that home invasion, said Illinois State Police Master Sgt. James Morrisey.

In both incidents, the telephone lines to King's house were cut, and security bars were removed from a side window.

In the December break-in, the intruder smashed the window with a large rock from a nearby railroad track. A large rock was found next to Tillman's body, Morrisey said.

I'd say she got 'im.