911 Tells Mom 'Do What You Have To Do': Okla. Mom Sarah McKinley Kills Intruder Justin Martin (UPDATE)

A teenage mother shot and killed an intruder after a 911 operator said she was allowed to defend her infant son and herself with force.

Sarah McKinley, 18, killed Justin Martin with a single gunshot wound on New Year's Eve when he forced his way into her Blanchard, Okla. home and came at her with a long hunting knife, ABC News reports.

The deadly encounter occurred about a week after the young mom's husband died of cancer, according to TV station KOCO. Martin darkened McKinley's door on the day of her husband's funeral, several days before the shooting. He claimed he was a neighbor who wanted to say hello, but she didn't open the door.

Martin returned with an accomplice on Dec. 31, and they tried to force their way into the modest house. When McKinley heard the men trying to break in, she called 911.

She also holed up in her bedroom with a 12-gauge shotgun and a pistol, while she put a bottle in her three-month-old son's mouth.

"I've got two guns in my hand -- Is it okay to shoot him if he comes in this door?" McKinley asked the 911 operator.

"I can't tell you that you can do that, but you do what you have to do to protect your baby," the dispatcher told McKinley when she asked a second time. The call went on for 21 minutes as the men powered their way into McKinley's house.

Eventually, Martin kicked in the door and charged at her with a knife, but McKinley fired before he could injure her.

Police found Martin slumped over a couch that McKinley had used to barricade the door and pronounced him dead on the scene, TV station News 9 reports. They said McKinley's use of force was justified.

Martin's alleged accomplice, Dustin Stewart, fled when he heard the gunshot and later surrendered to police, according to The Oklahoman. Stewart was charged with burglary.

UPDATE: 6:30 pm -- Stewart now also faces murder charges, because of his participation in the botched break-in that resulted in the death of his accomplice, according to local sources.

Comments

[speedking8899]

07:27 AM on 04/20/2012

why doesn't the media mention that the criminals were black? The media is infected with PC pandering

[speedking8899]

08:10 AM on 04/20/2012

I think the one that was shot was black.

[AlbanyConservative]

07:42 AM on 01/18/2013

now he's black and blue, with a little bit of red. Okay, a lot of red, it was a shotgun.

[whatever whatever]

03:22 PM on 05/14/2013

no he wasnt black sorry and this dirty young little thing havin kids with 50yo men when shes like 16/17 didnt have to kill the kid

[Nikole Adkins]

10:35 PM on 09/10/2012

why does it matter if the criminals were black? mentioning it seems like it would be pandering to a stereotype. a criminal is a criminal, their race doesn't matter. if anything mentioning might lead to belief of a hate crime. it doesn't matter if the person breaking into your home is black or white, its the same shade of illegal.

[crapservatives]

01:31 AM on 01/11/2013

Never mind on the gun and number of shots different story.

[unknown369]

11:00 AM on 02/21/2012

I aggre with this brave woman! These days, people are going into other people's homes and taking their stuff. What ever happend to manners! And now because the police are not getting their on time or they won't come at all(especialy in places like Detroit where that is happening frequently), we are getting tired of it. We are getting tired of how stupid people take our stuff and no one is going to do anything about it! So you have every right to defend your self, your family, and your possesions. If that man had never tried to rob her, he would have never been killed. It's just sad that we as human beings do this to one another. We are our own problem.

[RTIII]

10:24 AM on 09/21/2012

This wasn't about "taking stuff" - the man charged at her with a large knife, after breaking through an _interior_ door.

[unknown369]

05:56 PM on 11/03/2012

Oh and you think charging her with a knife is ok? I think you get the point when i say that people should just stop being stupid and doing horrible things to people. Someone who have worked hard for their house and other possesions have to deal with stupid people who do things like this and enough is enough. We are tired of people doing suff like that.

[hoho5973]

07:28 AM on 01/26/2012

An armed society is a polite society!

[Midnmax]

02:49 PM on 10/25/2012

Sometimes. Sometimes its violent anarchy like in Somolia or Afghanistan. Though one could argue that those aren't armed societies since only the warlords have weapons, not the average person.

Never the less, you can have polite societies that are armed and polite societies that aren't armed. Its a complicated issue that shouldn't be simplified down to a bumper sticker.

[hm8404]

08:34 PM on 01/07/2013

Name a society that have no weapons at all. I'll save you some time, there isn't any.

Sarah McKinley did the right thing. she also saved the tax payers a load of money.

[AlbanyConservative]

07:45 AM on 01/18/2013

but we are a polite society, and for you not to admit that shows your ideology. England and 27 more countries have more violent crimes than America and gun related murders in America are down over 40% in the last 20 years, despite a growing population and a lot more guns.
99.999% of us are responsible. the other 0.001% will end up like the guy in this story.

[Shirr3000]

10:53 AM on 01/25/2012

Has anyone even considered investigating the shooting besides taking what happened at the scene? What if she was selling drugs at the time. Someone needs to look at Justin Martin's contacts and link someone he knows with her and vice versa. I think it's suspicious and illegitimate not to do so. I don't think it was coincidence. If she wasn't selling then she was most likely using. Commonly asked questions, but I don't think they were fully addressed in this event. Maybe I should become a detective, probably get paid a lot to do it right........

[mebekili]

11:01 PM on 02/26/2012

They broke into her house and he came at her with a knife -- nothing else is relevant. But the idea that you're trying to impugn her character is disgusting.

[vrede]

11:15 AM on 03/24/2012

maybe they were going to rape her, maybe they wanted her baby to sell..maybe maybe you have no feelings for her position..she was on the telephone for 21 minutes with 911, she barricaded the door, she gave her child a bottle so he would not cry. She sounds very alert and thinking fast to me. Plus consider the stress she was under, husband just died, day of funeral and then this. You think she was selling drugs? you sound like the kind of detective who would blame the girl raped for her own torture. no thanks.

[suzettejo]

01:30 AM on 01/23/2012

Why was the link entitled, "Did 911 Give Woman Permission to Shoot Intruder?"

As a dispatcher in a large county with remote, rural areas, I can not tell you how difficult it is to be on the phone for extended periods trying to help people having true emergencies. Unfortunately, the deputies can not be exactly where we need them to be the minute someone calls...it's not magic... Dispatchers (and deputies) are only human. We try to do the right thing for every call, every shift. There are times when no matter what we say, we can't say the "right" thing to direct a caller. This dispatcher said exactly the right thing, "Do what you have to do to protect yourself and your child." If the dispatcher had told the woman NOT to shoot, there's a good chance the deputies would have found a dead woman and baby not a dead criminal.
To those who say that she should have shot to wound, not kill, unless you are extremely proficient in firearms, that's way easier said than done. The best possible outcome of this call is what happened.

[SouthernAtheist1]

10:01 PM on 11/30/2012

It was entitled that because many here have more compassion for the criminal than the victim, and would like nothing more than to take away her means to defend herself against them. Sad but true.

[novelist2000]

11:40 PM on 01/22/2012

Not only did she protect herself and the child, he's not going to be a pest to other women and does not cost money in prison. I call that a satisfactory outcome for someone who works for 21 minutes to commit a crime on a young woman and/or baby. Sometimes, I wish you could also prosecute the mother for raising her offspring with that result.

By contrast, I just read about a repeat sex offender in Victoria, Australia, who turned a doctor in her best years into a nursing home patient. I wish someone had taken him out in time, or is one not allowed to say that.

[Claire Wy]

01:21 AM on 01/21/2012

As a mother...I would have done the same to protect my child! Good on her! I hope she is getting some kind of counseling not only for this terrifying incident but also for the loss of her husband.

[lawleigh]

07:20 PM on 01/18/2012

She had every right and id do the same, just hope she gets the mental support to get over it now poor love xxxx my heart goes out to her

[HeatherFeather]

02:45 PM on 01/17/2012

more power to her, she did what any good mother would do and protected her child. She took a life, yes, but from the sounds of it this man wouldn't have thought twice about taking hers and possibly her child's.

[pragmaticalpaula]

01:32 PM on 01/17/2012

Shoot first, ask questions later. I don't believe in violence, but when it comes to protecting the welfare of a child, I wouldn't have thought it, I would have just shot (kneecaps/feet, not fatal). She showed great courage,now she and her child safe because of it. It's nice to see a news article about a mother protecting her child and not abusing her child. Sarah, you did good girl!

[Pete Gerasia]

05:42 AM on 04/20/2012

FYI, always aim for chest. Never for limbs or head. Any cop will tell you the same thing. Never ever shoot to wound.

[BranVanChemist]

05:34 AM on 01/17/2012

Im glad that this Oklahoma woman received national attention but what they have failed to report is that Oklahoma has a unique law unlike other states. It is called "Make My Day Law" where if someone comes in your house uninvited, you can shoot them. She didn't have to call 911. This happens often.

[William Tipton]

08:49 PM on 01/17/2012

A number of states have the same type of law..its called 'Castle Doctrine'. Doesnt apply in public, however.

[Don Neal]

04:06 AM on 03/11/2012

that is not right in Florida you have castle doctrine anywhere you have a right to be

[Pete Gerasia]

05:43 AM on 04/20/2012

"make my day" law? I doubt it.

[Kevin W Clark]

03:35 PM on 01/16/2012

is anyone else disappointed that the article doesn't mention whether she plugged him with the shotgun or with the pistol? I am hoping it was the shotgun....

[Fox Wood]

12:27 AM on 05/05/2013

I'm betting that whoever had to clean it up was hoping that it wasn't.

[British4Ever]

08:01 AM on 01/12/2012

Do the crime pay the Price!!! This young lady was told to look after her own and quite right too!!! Good Shooting young lady!!!

[qtpeye46]

05:17 PM on 01/10/2012

Why did it take more than 21 minutes for the police to come when she said someone was BREAKING into her house?

[JimInHouston]

09:21 PM on 01/10/2012

Asked and answered many times within this blog.

[qtpeye46]

10:00 PM on 01/10/2012

did you feel the need to tell EVERYONE asked and answered many times or did I just ruffle your bully bone?

[Jared Jentzsch]

09:38 AM on 01/10/2012

Poor girl. She will never be the same.

[Michael Steaphens]

01:32 AM on 01/17/2012

She'll be alive,along with her child,and will one day come to accept the fact that she did what she had to do to protect herself and her child.