Prosecutor Rules Self-Defense
In Slaying
By Jeff Arnold
TIMES RECORD � [email protected]
Fort Smith, Arkansas �
Thursday, June 21, 2001
(Originally ran here)
Sebastian County Prosecuting Attorney Tom Gean
announced Wednesday that he will not file charges against a Fort Smith woman who
shot and killed her boyfriend.
O�Brien Atchison Jr., 68, of Fort Smith was
shot and killed by Everlean Porter, 68, after Atchison entered her residence at
2019 N. 12th St. early June 12.
Porter told police she terminated a 21-year
relationship with Atchison on June 11, but he refused to return a key she had
given him to her home. She told police Atchison used that key to enter her
residence.
After Atchison entered the home, Porter told
police they argued and at one point Atchison got up from where he was sitting
and told her he had come over to kill her and her two sons.
Porter said she then fired three shots from a
.32 caliber pistol she retrieved when the argument started. Atchison was hit
twice in the upper body and pronounced dead at the scene.
Porter told police she feared for her life and
that Atchison threatened her with a gun twice before and he was known to carry a
pistol. Police found a .22 caliber revolver in Atchison�s right front pants
pocket.
Gean said the shooting was clearly justified.
�This was a classic case of self-defense,�
Gean said. �A person in their own home can use deadly force when they think a
person is about to commit a felony using force or violence.�
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