A chilling video has emerged that captures the moment a concerned Ohio father shoots dead his daughter's ex-boyfriend as he tried to break into the family's home. James Rayl, 22, was shot dead on July 31 in Sydney, Ohio, after he tried to break through the front door of his former girlfriend Allyson Duckro who lived at 2907 N. Kuther Road.
In a recently released doorbell video obtained by WHIO-TV 7, Rayl is seen attempting to open the door despite being warned to leave by the family inside. He is then shot dead by Duckro's father. According to Shelby County Prosecutor Tim Sell, a grand jury decided not to press charges against the father for the incident, which resulted in Rayl's death.
Warned and Shot
The chilling Ring camera footage shows Rayl continuously ringing the doorbell on July 31 at 11 a.m. He is dressed in a baseball cap, blue sweatshirt, grey T-shirt, and shorts. According to the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, when Rayl began banging on the door of the house where his ex-girlfriend lived, the owner urged him to stop and that he had a gun.
Minutes pass while Rayl waits with his hands clasped behind his back. Rayl then shoulders the door, according to the police. He continues to fling his bodyweight against the screen door after opening it and trying the handle.
Mitchell Duckro, Allyson's father, can be heard on the opposite side of the recording telling Rayl to stop.
At one point, Mitchell even warns Rayl that he is armed. "I have a gun," he is heard saying but Rayl man continues to pound on the door.
Rayl eventually forces open the door and the homeowner opens fire three times, sending Rayl fleeing. He then stumbles back to the garage's entrance, where he collapsed.
A little while later, the neighbor Jeffery Hereford can be seen crossing the Duckros' front lawn while yelling, "Don't shoot me."
Then the neighbor says, "He ain't got no gun." Sometime later, Shelby County Sherriff officers arrive at the scene but Rayl was dead by that time.
Blame Game
First responders pronounced Rayl dead at the acene. According to a joint press release from the county prosecutor and the local sheriff, as published by the Sidney Daily News, an autopsy later revealed that Rayl had suffered two gunshot wounds to the shoulders and a fatal wound to the back.
In a 911 audio tape of the event, which WHIO-TV 7 has obtained, a lady who identified the intruder as her ex-boyfriend is heard informing her father that Rayl is attempting to smash down the door. "Dad, is he trying to kill me?" the woman could be heard saying.
After Duckro shoots at Rayl, his daughter is heard telling him, "Dad, there's nothing you could have done. You saved my life," according to the station.
Invoking the state's "Stand Your Ground" statute, which states that a homeowner does not have a legal obligation to flee their home before shooting a pistol, a Shelby County grand jury earlier this month voted 8-1 against indicting Duckro on charges related to Rayl's homicide.
However, the revelation that Duckro won't be held responsible for the shooting has outraged Rayl's family, who have started a Facebook page calling for justice.
Jessica Marie Colbert, his sister, claims that her brother had no evil intent on that particular day and shouldn't have been dead. Mitch shot him in the back and killed him," Colbert wrote in a recent Facebook post.
"I hope your days are more miserable than they've ever been. You're a disgusting excuse of a human being along with your daughter."
Hereford, the neighbor, also doesn't agree with the grand jury's decision not to charge Mitchell Duckro. "If he entered the house, why did he shoot through the door," Hereford says.
