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Shooting death is ruled self-defense
By Troy Graham
Daily Press

NEWPORT NEWS - Renea Denise Brown was drunk and high on cocaine when she
attempted to rob a man in a wheelchair in his apartment last January.

The man then shot her in self-defense, Newport News prosecutors ruled Tuesday.

Brown, 27, was killed on Jan. 13 in the man's second-floor apartment in The
Towers, an East End waterfront high rise. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The case remained open while detectives and prosecutors examined the man's
claim that he shot Brown in self-defense. The shooter's name has not been
released, but police described him as a 37-year-old with limited use of his
arms and hands.

The man told police he was dumping garbage into a trash chute in the hallway of
his building when Brown got off the elevator, according to Newport News
Commonwealth's Attorney Howard Gwynn. Brown asked for money and the man said he
didn't have any, Gwynn said.

The man then wheeled back to his apartment and Brown followed him inside and
locked the door. She demanded money again, and the man again refused, Gwynn
said. The man then tried to call the building's security and Brown took the
phone from him, Gwynn said.

At one point, Brown wielded and threatened the man with a metal foldout chair,
Gwynn said. The man then wheeled into his bedroom where he had another phone,
intending to call security. He also had a gun there, which he legally owned.

When Brown came into the bedroom, the man pointed the gun at her and told her
to get out. As she came toward him, the man fired twice, killing Brown.

Brown did not have a weapon when she was killed. The law concerning justifiable
homicide says the actions of the shooter must appear reasonable to him under
the given circumstances. Prosecutors agreed that the man thought he had no
choice but to shoot.

"He was pretty much backed into a corner," Gwynn said. "If she's able to get to
him, he's had it."

An autopsy performed on Brown found a high blood alcohol content and cocaine in
her system.

Brown lived nearby on Aqua Vista Drive, but detectives did not find any
connection between her and the man who shot her.

The shooting was the fourth death in a six-month period at The Towers. Just two
days before Brown's death, police arrested 19-year-old Jessie Wright for
stabbing two men to death in their Tower apartments in November 2000.

Police quickly compiled a report on the Brown shooting and turned it over to
prosecutors. But Gwynn said he wanted to wait until an autopsy was completed
before making a ruling.

"I didn't think a complete and thorough examination of the facts could be
completed until the autopsy came back," he said. "I wanted to make sure the
bullets traveled in a path that were consistent with what he said."

The autopsy, returned this week, showed that the bullets followed a direction
and path that confirmed the man's story, Gwynn said.

Troy Graham can be reached at 247-4741 or by e-mail at
tgraham@dailypress.com***



 
 
 
                           Empyrean is a sight to see