Indianapolis, Indiana is the scene of one of our latest tales of poor judgement on the part of ambitious burglars and home invaders. Dequan Cummings, who until recently had only racked up a relatively minor record of small time crime, decided to join up with a partner to rob the apartment of a pregnant woman and her fiance. As Bob Owens reports, things started off well for the enterprising crime duo who were able to disarm the registered firearm owning couple, but then things took a turn for the worse.

A pregnant woman and her fiance fought for their lives against a pair of armed home invaders in Indianapolis earlier this week, leaving one of the criminals dead of multiple gunshot wounds at the scene, and his partner on the run.

Home invasion suspect Dequan Cummings was DRT (dead right there) when Indianapolis police arrived. Cummings had forced his way into a residence Sunday evening and struggled with the couple over the control of a firearm kept in the home.

It didn’t go his way…

The local news interviews the authorities who don’t seem in any rush to judge the tenants in the case. In fact, Dequan’s partner is in for an unpleasant surprise when they catch up with him.

“We are in support of legal gun ownership, make no mistake about that. Those are some of the basic tenants [sic] of our constitution. We want people to exercise caution, wisdom, and proper gun safety,” said IMPD Spokesman Christopher Wilburn.

Meanwhile, police are looking for second robbery suspect. Because of the death of the other suspect, the second suspect will face felony murder charges when captured, RTV6’s Jack Rinehart reported.

I particularly enjoyed Bob’s interpretation of the police interview.

Unspoken but seemingly implied in Officer Wilburn’s statement is that the judicious use of marksmanship is appreciated in armed self-defense.

The reason that the partner will be facing murder charges is found in Indiana’s felony murder rule. This holds that any person who is a “criminal actor” involved in a crime which results in a death may be held accountable for that death even if they did not personally pull the trigger. Were it not for the partner’s poor decision making, Dequan might still be alive, so he will be held accountable for it rather than the apartment’s tenants.

Mr. Cummings was unavailable for comment.