The prosecutor who decided not to press charges against a Missouri woman who fatally shot a firefighter has been receiving threats due to the decision. A video of part of the incident shows the woman trying to defuse a fight between her boyfriend, Ja’Von Taylor, and Anthony “Tony” Santi.
However, the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney’s office says she ultimately shot Santi with Taylor’s weapon because he was choking her boyfriend, who was “turning purple.”
“The rule of law required that this case be declined,” the prosecutor’s office in a statement.
The Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney’s office released audio of one of the calls along with the statement.
“You fucking n***er loving whore. F**king n***er lovers that we’re gonna burn your f**king house down,” a man says in a message to the prosecutor’s office. “You f**king little n***er lovers, every f**king last one of you that lives there. We’re f**king coming for you. We see what the f**k you’re doing, you f**king n***er loving c**ts.”
The office’s director of communications Michael Mansur says the office doesn’t “typically release statements on declined cases without new facts,” however, they were “compelled to do so because of the circumstances.”
Santi got into a verbal altercation with Taylor after a store clerk asked him to leave over an argument about the availability of his favorite brand of cigars. Santi demanded the other man leave, and he followed Taylor into the parking lot, where the woman was sitting in Taylor’s car.
Taylor took the gun from the car, and the men began fighting over it. Video footage shows the woman taking the gun from Taylor’s hand while begging the men to stop tussling. The prosecutor’s office says the woman “fired a single shot in defense of the man who was being strangled.”
A witness told investigators that Taylor was “totally defenseless.” He “couldn’t talk, couldn’t breathe [and]he was turning purple,” and his “eyes rolled back into his head,” the witness also said.
Another witness told investigators he heard Santi tell Taylor, “I’m killing you.”
“These statements and video evidence from the convenience store support the defense of others provision as codified in Missouri law,” the prosecutor office said.
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