DA: 'Make My Day' Law Applies In Stabbing Case
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4) - A woman who killed a man with a beer bottle following a fight in Fort Collins earlier this month will not face charges.
The Larimer County District Attorney cited Colorado's "Make My Day" law in his decision in a court hearing on Thursday.
Azura Lakin told CBS4 her former boyfriend Shaun Cassidy, 23, hit and choked her on Oct. 2 before she hit him with a beer bottle that broke and cut his neck. Cassidy died a few days later.
Cassidy's family was at Thursday's hearing and said they are upset with the DA's decision. Cassidy's grandmother, aunt and cousin drove over from Montrose to tell the judge that Cassidy was the victim of a deadly assault and that they think there should be charges filed.
"She was mad over a broken cell phone. So my nephew is gone because of a cell phone that was broken. It's not right," said Cassidy's aunt Colleen Countryman.
"She needs to be responsible for something," said Cassidy's grandmother Arlene Cassidy.
They say Cassidy was just trying to get his keys and wallet from Lakin's apartment and that Lakin attacked him for breaking her cell phone but after the hearing Lakin told CBS4 she was defending herself.
"That night he got very drunk and he attacked myself and my sister. I was beaten and strangled and I defended myself and my sister and I wish that things had not turned out the way that they did and I'm very sorry for Shaun and his family," Lakin said.
Arlene Cassidy says she thinks Lakin and her sister were at fault for allowing Cassidy in the apartment.
"I just don't understand the law," she said. "When they got him out they should have locked the door and called 911. And instead they opened the door the second time."
"I wish that things had not turned out the way they did. I'm very sorry for Shaun and his family.
District attorney Larry Abrahamson told CBS4 that his office took a close look at whether Cassidy entered the apartment uninvited and if he was inside the threshold of the apartment. He said those facts led him to the decision that Lakin is immune from prosecution.
"The statute says you're immune from prosecution if you're protecting your protecting your home in that way," said Abrahamson.