Homeowner Charged With Murder After Shooting Teen Who Knocked On Wrong Door

Story out of Chicopee, Massachusetts:

A 15-year-old boy shot in the abdomen Saturday has died and a 42-year-old homeowner has been arrested in his death.

Jeffery Lovell, 42, 120 Boucher Circle, has been charged with murder. He is being held in the Chicopee Police Department jail without right to bail, Michael Wilk, public information officer for the Chicopee Police Department, said.

Lovell is being accused of shooting the teenager through the door of his house.

Police initially received a call of a breaking and entering into the home in the Fairview section of the city. When they arrived, they found the teenager on the ground suffering from a gunshot wound to his abdomen, Wilk said.

"It was determined that three parties went to the residence believing it to be (the home of) a friend. One party, the victim, was banging on the outside door, when the homeowner shot through the door, striking the male," Wilk said.

Investigators found the victim and a friend were drinking alcohol at a nearby home. The two friends were confused while walking in the neighborhood and believed they had arrived at the home of another friend, said James Leydon, spokesman for Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni, said.

Lovell, the homeowner, tried to communicate with the victim, who was still knocking on the locked door, Leydon said.

"When a pane of glass broke, the suspect fired a single shot, striking the victim," Leydon said.

When Chicopee Police arrived they immediately started providing emergency medical care and the 15-year-old was rushed to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, where he was treated but died later. Cont.

Story from - Mass Live