The same female victim, whose name police did not release, also shot and wounded a juvenile who kicked in her back door in June 2013, according to police reports and her brother, 54-year-old Efrim Goldsmith.
Dayton police said the initial evidence indicates the woman acted in self-defense.
The deceased was identified as 22-year-old DeBrandon Jurrod Dickerson, who is from Detroit, and who has only been in the Dayton area for about a week, officials said. Police said they do not believe Dickerson was acting alone.
All of the evidence from the investigation, including an autopsy and toxicology report on the deceased, will be presented to the prosecutor to decide whether the incident was a justifiable homicide or if criminal charges should be filed, said Dayton police Lt. Wendy Stiver.
“It’s extremely early in the investigation,” she said.
Ohio’s Castle Doctrine gives people the right to use lethal force to protect themselves or their home when threatened.
The law says residents do not have to retreat from a threat and can use deadly force in self-defense or the defense of another when they are in their homes, cars or vehicles of immediate family members.
At about 3:05 a.m. Wednesday, police dispatch received a call about a break-in.
The woman heard someone making noise outside and break a window, said Goldsmith. He said the suspect could not get inside because of metal security bars.
The man then climbed a porch pillar to the roof and broke a window on the second floor, he said.
Goldsmith said his sister hid in the bathroom but opened fire when the intruder came toward her.
The injured suspect fled out the window, jumped from the roof and ran down the street, leaving behind a trail of blood, Goldsmith said.
Dickerson was found dead nearby. The coroner ruled the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the chest.
Stiver said Dickerson came to the Dayton region recently, but his criminal record in Michigan shows he faced some misdemeanor larceny and theft charges.
She said Dickerson may have had an accomplice.
Goldsmith said his sister installed metal bars in all the first-floor windows after her home was burglarized last month.
On Aug. 25, the woman contacted police after someone pried open her rear kitchen window and disabled her alarm by knocking it off the wall, a police report states.
The thief or thieves stole a safe, 10 pairs of shoes and two flat-screen televisions, the report states.
Goldsmith said it’s possible that the dead suspect was responsible for the previous break-in.
“Like the detective said, it’s more than likely it’s the same person who broke in a week before,” Goldsmith said.
Goldsmith said his sister has a concealed carry permit and shot a young intruder during a break-in a couple of years ago.
On the evening of June 24, 2013, the woman told police she heard people knocking on her front and back door at the same time and looked out a window and saw two juveniles she did not recognize, a report states.
The teens then kicked in the back door, and she fired one shot from a .38 special Ruger, striking one intruder in the arm, the report states.
The juveniles fled but the injured one showed up at a local hospital in search of medical treatment. Police identified both suspects, who were charged with burglary.
Police reports show someone broke into her garage in 2008. In 2004, she contacted police after someone broke into her home and stole an array of electronics.
Goldsmith said his sister is upset about Wednesday’s events and disturbed that she was forced to take a life.
He hopes she will consider moving to a safer neighborhood.
“It’s just the neighborhood,” he said. “She’s glad to be alive … she’ll be all right.”
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