Elgin Home Owner Acquitted Of Manslaughter In Teen's Shooting Death
ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill. (CBS) -- A suburban homeowner no longer faces a manslaughter charge in the death of an 18-year-old he shot.
A jury on Thursday acquitted 58-year-old Donald Rattanavong, a former Buddhist monk.
Last July, prosecutors say, four teens came to Rattanavong's house in Elgin to break into some cars. Rattanavong says he fired warning shots and wasn't aiming at Guillermo Pineda, who was struck in the head and died.
Rattanavong's attorney says it was an accident and justifiable.
"He told them, 'Get off my property.' But they wouldn't," attorney Lewis Gainor said. "And at that point, he was within his legal rights to use force, including deadly force. That is the law in this state."
But the teen's mother tells CBS 2's Pamela Jones that the shooting amounts to the assassination of her child.
Rattanavong was found guilty of reckless discharge of a firearm. He's in jail awaiting sentencing.
