‘I was trapped in my own house’
August 12, 2002
Local man recalls Thursday incident which led to fatal shooting
By JOSEPH PARDINGTON
Herald Staff Writer
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=5026557&BRD=2048&PAG=461&dept_id=343874&rfi=6

LEMON SPRINGS – “I was trapped in my own house,” Paul Redmond, 56, of
1065 Sanders Road, told The Herald Friday afternoon following a fatal
shooting in his home Thursday.
Redmond said he fired two shots at a stranger who had broken down his
front door and was approaching him inside his mobile home.

“This guy was going to definitely wail on me,” Redmond said from his
home during a telephone interview.

According to Redmond, the shooting victim raised his hand and was only 2
to 3 feet away when the shots were fired.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Department identified the dead man as Wesley
Kelly, 50, of Texas – no hometown given. The weapon was a .38-caliber
handgun, said Chief Deputy Ronnie Currin. Kelly was unarmed, but he did
push through the porch door and was shot, Currin said.

No charges have been filed against Redmond, Currin added.

“He (Kelly) was in my living room,” Redmond told The Herald.

“He started out asking if he could use my phone. I said ‘I don’t know
you,’” Redmond said.
“I don’t know this guy. He’s trying to tell me people were in the
driveway trying to kill him. I looked out (my window). Nobody’s out
there,” Redmond recalled.

“I warned this guy 30, 40 or 50 times. He wasn’t comprehending what I
was saying. He wasn’t listening. I thought, ‘What am I dealing with?’”
Redmond said of the tense confrontation.
Redmond recalled how he politely asked the man to leave, then became
more insistent when the stranger refused his requests.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Department reported that Redmond telephoned its
office three times Thursday for help, the first call at 4:45 p.m., the
last at 4:52 p.m.

“That’s all I wanted him to do – stay on the porch,” Redmond said.

“It’s like he was in this trance or something. The guy was either having
hallucinations or was high on something,” he added.

The man banged one fist, then two on the door, then used his body to
force open the door, according to Redmond.

After the man broke down the door, he advanced toward Redmond, the Lemon
Springs resident recalled.

“I realized the guy was out of control. He raised his hand, he was much
bigger than me – he stepped toward me. I shot him. He pushed the storm
door open and he died outside,” Redmond said.

“I never wanted to be put in this position,” an emotionally-shaken
Redmond added.

“He was in the house. If he was on the porch, I wouldn’t have shot him,”
he insisted.

Redmond said he believed Kelly had visited somebody in a neighboring
house before coming to his door.

Currin said the sheriff’s department is continuing its investigation
into the incident.

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