Due to Texas’ unusual self-defense laws, a man who shot and killed a prostitute after she took his money but refused to have sex with him was acquitted of murder charges on Wednesday.
Ezekiel Gilbert hired Lenora Ivie Frago for sex at a rate of $150. After Frago took his money but refused to have sex with him, Gilbert shot Frago in the neck in an attempt to recover his money. The incident occurred on Christmas Eve, 2009, and after being shot, Frago was paralyzed for seven months before she finally died.
On Wednesday, a jury acquitted Gilbert of murder charges, due to a Texas law which stipulates that people can use deadly force to recover property during a nighttime theft. The law was designed to protect law-abiding citizens, and although the theft occurred while Gilbert and Frago were engaged in a criminal act, the jury still found him innocent of her murder.
MySanAntonio.com reports that, had Gilbert been convicted, he would have faced a life sentence. Gilbert admitted to shooting Frago, but said that he did not mean to kill her, only to retrieve the money that she had stolen. The jury agreed with the defense, and considered Frago’s refusal to have sex after taking the money as a legitimate theft.
Gilbert initially contacted Frago via Craigslist, and the two arranged for a $150 fee for sexual intercourse. A third, unidentified man, Frago’s pimp, was waiting outside of Gilbert’s house while the shooting occurred.
After being acquitted, Gilbert thanked God, his attorneys, Bobby and Roy Barrera, and the jury for giving him a second chance.
“I sincerely regret the loss of the life of Ms. Frago,” said Gilbert. “I’ve been in a mental prison the past four years of my life. I have nightmares. If I see guns on TV where people are getting killed, I change the channel.”
Image Credit: MySanAntonio.com