Murder suspect argues self-defense in gas station shooting. Why a judge agrees
A murder suspect in Macon has been granted immunity on his most serious charges after he proved to a judge that the person he shot and killed was the aggressor in an incident between them, according to court documents.
Keenan Devonte Andrews had his murder charges dismissed because he was able to prove that he shot and killed Jerry Burke in self-defense at the Circle K gas station at 4314 Pio Nono Ave. on Aug. 30, 2023, court documents show. Court documents indicate the two were in a fight when the shooting happened.
He was given immunity from prosecution on charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, according to Judge David Mincey’s ruling, which was issued Monday.
‘No duty to retreat’
Andrews testified at his immunity hearing in September that on the day of the shooting, he parked his car at a gas station and went inside, where he saw Burke. He recognized Burke as someone he had an altercation with four or five years ago, but it was unclear what the altercation was about, according to court documents.
Burke approached Andrews’ after he left the gas station and returned to his car, according to video surveillance footage referenced in court documents. He entered the driver’s side door of Andrews’ car and repeatedly struck him. Burke then exited the vehicle and turned before Andrews also got out of the car, court documents said.
Burke can be seen on video momentarily crouching at the rear of Andrews’ car, indicating he had been hit with a bullet during this altercation, before fleeing across the parking lot, according to Mincey’s ruling.
Multiple shell casings were found on the ground where the incident took place. One of them was found in the driver’s side of the vehicle, while the remaining casings were in the passenger’s side, court documents show.
“Mr. Burke was killed by a single bullet that entered his back on the left side under his arm and lodged in the middle of his chest with a slightly upward trajectory,” Mincey said in his ruling. “Based on the trajectory of the bullet, it would necessarily have been fired by the Defendant either before the Defendant exited the vehicle or as he was doing so.”
The shell casings in the passenger’s side of the car appeared not to be directed at Burke as he ran away, according to Mincey. Instead, Mincey says that the casings “appear to be the result of shots that the Defendant fired toward the front left side of the gas station.”
There was a group of people located on that side of the gas station during the incident, but there wasn’t any evidence that the Defendant fired any shots outside of the fuel bay area surrounding his vehicle, Mincey said in his ruling.
There was also no evidence that Burke had a gun, but other people he was seen with at the gas station appeared to have firearms. The group had been the ones to shoot toward Andrews, prompting him to return fire, according to court documents.
“The evidence … strongly suggests that the Defendant was being shot at from one or more persons located at the front left side of the gas station and that he returned fire as he took cover behind the passenger side of the vehicle,” Mincey said.
But his indictment only charged him with the murder and aggravated assault of Burke, who was the initial aggressor, according to court documents.
“The Defendant had no duty to retreat before defending himself from Mr. Burke’s unprovoked assault on him in his own vehicle,” Mincey said as a reason to give Andrews immunity from prosecution on his murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony charges.
Why the suspect still faces some charges
Despite his most serious charges being dismissed, Andrews was not declared immune on two counts of possessing a firearm as a first offender probationer, stemming from his conviction in a robbery case from 2016. In that case, he was sentenced to 10 years of probation.
He was adjudicated guilty of violating probation and resentenced to 20 years, according to Mincey’s ruling. As for the two illegal firearm possession counts, court records indicate those charges remain pending.
