Homeowner fatally shoots squatter in his vacant house — but attorney says self-defense may be hard to prove

An Oklahoma homeowner was arrested and jailed after fatally shooting a squatter in his vacant residence earlier this month — and an attorney is saying a self-defense claim may be difficult to prove.

Timothy Smith, 59, is facing charges of first-degree manslaughter and reckless conduct with a firearm after shooting a squatter in his vacant house in Oklahoma City on May 1, KOCO-TV reported.

‘At trial, I’m sure the defense will be self-defense. What’s going to make that difficult? He told the police that he didn’t see a weapon in the hand of the victim.’

Smith on Friday remained behind bars in the Oklahoma County Detention Center. Jail information indicates Smith’s next court date is June 18 and that he’s also charged with assault and battery with a deadly weapon.

Smith told detectives he and his daughter checked on his house after having previous issues there with homeless people, KOCO reported.

Smith entered the home with a gun and found Justin King in the back bedroom with a woman, the station said.

Smith and his daughter told the pair to leave, but Smith said King stepped toward him, KOCO reported.

With that, Smith aimed at “the area” of King, and the gunshot struck King in the neck, the station said.

Criminal defense attorney Ed Blau told KOCO a self-defense claim on Smith’s part is complicated because Smith was not living in the home at the time of the shooting.

“There’s not the death penalty for squatting in the state of Oklahoma,” Blau told the station. “You can’t just take a gun in and shoot somebody.”

Blau added to the station that a self-defense argument also may be difficult to prove because Smith admitted to detectives that he did not feel threatened.

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“It would be difficult to have a stand-your-ground defense hold up,” Blau noted to KOCO.

The attorney added to the station that “at trial, I’m sure the defense will be self-defense. What’s going to make that difficult? He told the police that he didn’t see a weapon in the hand of the victim.”

Blau also told KOCO that while Oklahoma’s Castle Doctrine allows homeowners to use force against intruders in their primary residences, it’s different for vacant houses.

“If a trespasser or a burglar breaks in or comes into your home that you live in, and you’re there, you can pretty much shoot them or do whatever you want to with them because of the Castle Doctrine here in Oklahoma,” Blau told the station. “In a situation like this, an abandoned house, it’s much different. You can’t go in, put yourself in a situation, and say, ‘This is my house, so I felt I had the right to shoot him.'”

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