West Toledo man acquitted in fatal neighbor shooting
Daniel Kirby said he shot Charles White in self-defense.
A West Toledo man who shot his neighbor’s ex-boyfriend during a domestic dispute was acquitted Thursday of reckless homicide.
Daniel Kirby, 38, of the 3000 block of Marvin Avenue had maintained he shot Charles White on April 6 in self-defense and in defense of White’s former girlfriend, Danielle Reddick, but prosecutors argued he did not need to shoot White.
The jury of seven men and five women deliberated since late Tuesday and told the judge Wednesday they were struggling to reach a consensus.
Frank Spryszak, an assistant county prosecutor, told the jury in his closing argument Tuesday that Kirby could have called police immediately, could have gotten Reddick and her friend Whitney Espinoza to safety, and could have left the apartment when the two women left.
Defense attorney Mark Geudtner described Kirby as a Good Samaritan. Spryszak didn’t disagree.
“Mr. Kirby hears a violent disturbance across the hall and he decides that he wants to go and intervene, so as a good Samaritan, he does the right thing: he steps in,” Spryszak said. “The reason the situation goes bad is that he stayed there way too long.”
“He had numerous opportunities to exit the situation,” Spryszak said. “All he needed to do was get Danielle and Whitney out of that apartment and he would’ve been the hero, but instead he stayed and maintained the confrontation for about 15 to 20 minutes.”
When Reddick and Espinoza return to the apartment, White went to his knees with his back to Kirby and again told him to shoot him. Kirby fired once when White suddenly stood up, turned around, and lunged in their direction.
Geudtner said White was violent, out of control, and had threatened to beat both Reddick and Kirby.
His client did not instigate the violence, but tried to stop it, he said.
“Danielle said Charles was talking about suicide saying, ‘Shoot me. Shoot me. I’m ready to die,’ and this wasn’t the first time she heard him talk about suicide and that he talked about taking her with him in the past,” Geudtner said. “Daniel Kirby went next door to protect his neighbor and make sure that didn’t happen.”
“If anyone was out of control, beyond reckless, it was Charles White,” he said.