
51-year-old truck driver Dana McDonald was able to breath a sigh of relief after being found not guilty of murder by a jury in Houston, Texas.
He was initially charged with murder back in 2014, after telling police that he acted in self-defense.
The incident occurred after McDonald and his wife walked backed to their parked semi truck in Northeast Harris County and found that it was broken into by two thieves who were still inside. One of the thieves fled the scene, the other attacked McDonald and his wife with a metal cheater bar. After a scuffle, McDonald was able to wrestle the metal pipe away from the attacker and struck him with it.
“So I ran back around to the driver side of the truck, and that’s when the guy was standing on the driver’s side of the truck and I put myself in between the guy and my wife…that’s when he struck me with the metal pipe,” McDonald explained.
The thief died as a result of his injuries. McDonald was later arrested and charged with murder.
Many were outraged by the indictment, stating that the “castle doctrine” law should have applied to the case because he acted in self-defense. Nevertheless, the indictment stuck and the case eventually went to trial in September 2016.
The following news segment, highlighting some of the controversy of the case, was run by ABC-13 after the indictment.
McDonald was defended by two lawyers from the Public Defender’s Office in a week-long trial. Attorney Eric Davis explained, “He and his wife were being robbed by this guy. When he comes out swinging that cheater bar, using force to take property, that’s a robbery.”
On Thursday, September 29th, after just 40 minutes of deliberation, the jury found 51-year-old truck driver Dana McDonald not guilty of murder.
“It’s tragic that somebody had to lose their life over some minor property, but it was scary because I didn’t know this guy, didn’t know if he had weapons. I thought I was going to get hurt. I had to protect myself and my wife, in that moment,” McDonald said.