Jackson County prosecutors said they wouldn’t be filing any charges against a woman who fatally shot a firefighter in Kansas City during a physical dispute. They claimed that she reacted in self-defense. According to FOX4, the tragic collision happened on October 6 at a gas station. According to reports, Anthony “Tony” Santi was fighting with the woman’s boyfriend when she fatally shot him.
Because the brand of cigars Santi wanted to buy wasn’t available, Ja’Von Taylor began berating a female employee while Santi was inside the store, according to the affidavit. Taylor was urged to leave the business, but he refused. Then Santi stepped in and urged Taylor to leave as well. However, according to court filings, Taylor began to threaten Santi.
The two men eventually left the shop and got into a fight in the parking lot. According to court filings, Santi and Taylor got into a confrontation when the latter pulled a revolver. Later, a woman who accompanied Taylor to the business got out of a car. She can also be seen stealing Taylor’s gun in a video of the altercation.
Later, as the two guys were still fighting, the woman started shooting at Santi. An attorney who watched the video of the incident was asked to explain why the prosecution decided not to charge the woman.
“Technically it’s called the defense of justification and your justification is you are saving the life of another person,” Attorney Kevin Jamison told FOX4.
Jamison added that though it is usually crucial to determine who started the fight in such cases, this may not be the case for this incident. “The girlfriend is only constrained by what she reasonably believed to be the circumstances. If she didn’t see the start of the fight, all she knows is her boyfriend is getting strangled,” Jamison said.
Taylor was later charged with possessing guns, according to the affidavit. In a statement, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s office said, “We grieve with the family and community over this awful loss of life of Mr. Santi.”
The office claimed that after carefully examining the relevant evidence, they made the decision. Concerns have been made regarding Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker’s history of failing to pursue charges in some circumstances. “An officer will be frustrated because they don’t understand why that the case was declined,” Baker said on Tuesday.
“If a case is declined, it’s just because we don’t believe there’s sufficient evidence to get to that highest burden of proof,” she added.
Jamison claimed that if the case had relied simply on witness testimony, charges might have been brought. However, a video of the encounter is accessible, and lawyers may have requested a self-defense hearing even before the facts of the case were explained to the jury. Jamison said that the charges might have been withdrawn.
