What would you do if you opened a door and found a man sexually abusing your five-year-old daughter? Most parents I know would find it difficult to control their rage and not start attacking the person committing such a heinous act, and most people I know would not blame these parents one bit if restraint was not a top priority at that moment. One man in Texas beat his kid’s molester to death, and now the debate as to whether he is a hero or a criminal himself is under way.
The man, whose name has not been released, heard his young girl screaming from a nearby barn, where she had gone to feed the family chickens. When he found her, he caught a family acquaintance in the act of molesting her. This father pulled the child abuser off his daughter and then proceeded to beat him with his fits until he died. The county coroner has determined that the man died of blunt force trauma to his head and neck.
A grand jury now will be examining the facts of this case. The father was never arrested, but the killing was investigated as a homicide case. The dad insists that he never intended to kill anyone. He was overtaken by the intense reaction of seeing his daughter being victimized. Some legal experts are arguing that despite the man’s intent and the reason behind his violence, he still must be prosecuted as vigilante justice cannot be allowed to supplant the courtroom.
UPDATE: Before I could post this blog article, the grand jury had reached a decision in this case.
“In declining to indict the 23-year-old father in the June 9 killing of Jesus Mora Flores, a Lavaca County grand jury reached the same conclusion as investigators and many of the father’s neighbors: He was authorized to use deadly force to protect his daughter.”
For me, I absolutely felt the grand jury made the right decision in this case. However, I can’t help but think (and shudder) that the decision might have been quite different in the state of California.
What do you think?
What might you be capable of doing if you actually caught someone doing harm to your son or daughter?
Do you agree with the grand jury’s decision and the father was authorized to use deadly force?
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Author Jennifer Chase 
Personally I think he’s a hero. Any parent would have the same reaction and I think anyone who claims they wouldn’t is kidding themselves. The instinct to protect our children is a strong one and would override any ‘rational’ thinking. I’m so pleased that the grand jury decided he was authorised to use deadly force.
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I”m somewhat familiar with this case, having watched some of it’s unfolding on “Issues with Jane Valez Mitchell.”
The father is not only within his rights, but totally without blame in this. We was protecting his daughter. In that passion, I can well imagine anyone would be carried away enough to kill – and this killing, from everything I’ve seen and heard, was accidental. He is a hero – at least should be in his daughter’s eyes. And to the rest of us parents, he’s an example of a man who is standing between his family and harm. Well done!
Thomas Rydder
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Damn right he is a hero. The world is full of cowards. It’s time somebody stepped up to protect his family. I’m glad that he did.
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I am not sure that I would use the word “heroic” to describe the act of killing someone, whatever the circumstances. But he most certainly had provocation and I would have done the same thing.
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He is not a hero, but nor is he a criminal – why does it have to be so black and white? He is a normal father who acted in a totally understandable way when he saw what was happening to his child, and he certainly shouldn’t be prosecuted. I would probably react the same way, with a physical fury that I probably couldn’t control – but it wouldn’t make me a hero, just a mother hell-bent on protecting her child whatever the consequences. The father himself is said t be ‘remorseful’; I don’t suppose he planned to actually kill the molester, but nor was he calm enough to rationalise how hard/often he needed to hit him to make him stop – who could be rational in those circumstances? The tragedy is, this poor father will probably be haunted by what he’s done for the rest of his life, even though it was an understandable reaction. Can’t we simply agree that he did what most parents would have done, that he didn’t mean to kill and that he shouldn’t be prosecuted? Why must he be a ‘hero’?
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Bravo for this dad!
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This father reacted on instinct to protect his child, which is what many parents would do. Children are not programmed to fight off adults…nor should they have to endure or encounter real life monsters! Unfortunately, these monsters do exist and in his daughter’s eyes…this man is a hero, as he stood up and protected her during such a traumatic experience.
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Susan makes a very good point. Violence is being taken waaaaay too much for granted nowadays, and is out of control Gone are the days when a murder or rape was big news. Now, it’s commonplace, and only has headlines for as long as it takes the next case to come along. Rather than put this man on a pedestal, we should (particularly for our children) note that he did his job as a father, and pray for his release from his own torment.
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Hero is frequently overused. I don’t think that it applies in this case. No, I would prefer a finding of “justifiable homicide.” Now, if he had learned of the molestation and gone searching for him and murdered him after the fact, he would be in trouble. However, the facts, as presented here, seem to indicate that he responded to an imminent threat – surely it may be assumed that the perpetrator might have killed the girl after the sexual assault. Indeed, the sexual assault may have included violence that could have risen to the level of taking her life. Nope, this is not vigilantism.
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I’d simply call this man a father that acted within the realm of being a parent. Any good parent would react in much the same way as this man. I’m sure he doesn’t call himself a hero, but a man put into a situation that he’d rather not have occurred. The other side of that to me is that his daughter may call him a “hero”. After all, it was her that he saved. Just my opinion.
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Thank you everyone for your comments. I’ve been hearing so much from people who feel defeated (and even angry) with the criminal justice system so when a story like this comes to light I like to post and talk about it. If doing what’s right and protecting your family defines someone as a hero, then hero it is in my book. My thoughts and prayers go out to father and daughter and I hope that they can put the entire situation behind them soon.
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Unfortunately, the father and daughter will never totally put this situation behind them. But the daughter will remember her father as a hero whether the world does or not. Justice was serviced. People have to have the right to protect their family from harm and should not be punished for doing so. Perhaps that will make the criminal element think twice before committing crimes.
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It’s unfortunate that the comment about California – where I live – is probably accurate. I don’t know if “hero” is the right description but I believe his reaction was justified. I wonder what kind of person would argue otherwise.
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