BREAKING NEWS – Blackfoot, Idaho – An 85-year-old Idaho mother who shot and killed a home intruder committed a “justifiable homicide” that is “one of the most heroic acts of self-preservation I have heard of,” Bingham County Prosecuting Attorney Ryan Jolley stated in an incident review.
The suspect, identified as 39-year-old Derek Condon, entered the home Christine Jenneiahn shares with her disabled son around 2 a.m. March 13.
Jolley says Condon placed Jenneiahn in handcuffs and took her into the living room of her home, where he took her at gunpoint and handcuffed her to a wooden chair.
“At one point while Condon was downstairs, Christine drug the chair she was handcuffed to into her bedroom, and retrieved her 357 magnum revolver from under her pillow,” Jolley wrote. “She then went back into the living room and hid the revolver between the arm rest and cushion of a couch next to where she was seated and waited to see what Condon did next.”
The victim’s memory “remains somewhat unclear” as to what happened next, the prosecutor’s statement says, but at some point, she made the decision that it was “now or never,” drew her gun and struck Condon with two shots.
“Condon returned fire emptied a 9mm pistol into Christine striking her multiple times in her abdomen, leg, arm and chest,” the document states. “Condon then went into the adjoining kitchen where he died from his wounds.”
“Once again, a citizen with a vigilante mindset uses excessive force in dealing with an intruder,” explained Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. “What that 85 year old woman should’ve done, was ran out of the house dragging that rocking chair, and sprinted to the nearest police station and let law enforcement handle the situation. Instead, she went Rambo and executed that poor man. And as far as Condon returning fire with his weapon, in my opinion he acted in self-defense!”