Boone County prosecutor says man who shot, killed another in 2017 acted in self-defense
Boone County Prosecutor Dan Knight said Ricky Gurley acted in self-defense when he shot and killed 28-year-old Cameron Caruthers in 2017 at a home in east Columbia.
“Under the laws of the state of Missouri, if you look at Chapter 563, the defendant [Gurley] had the right to act in self-defense and use the deadly force that he used,” Knight said.
Under that law, deadly force can be used in self-defense against a person who unlawfully enters or remains unlawfully in a dwelling or residence lawfully occupied by the defender.
“Caruthers was told in no uncertain terms that he could not come inside the residence,” Knight said. Knight noted those statements were part of a recorded conversation taken on Gurley’s phone at the time.
Knight also said the statements from Gurley and Kelsey Poore, a woman inside the home, to police revealed Caruthers’ threatening behavior.
“They both said he was not allowed to come in, he physically assaulted Kelsey Poore and threatened to kill her,” Knight said. “Then he turned his attention on Rick Gurley, approached him in a threatening manner and then Rick Gurley shot and killed him.”
Under the same law, deadly force can be used if the person reasonably believes the force is necessary to protect himself or herself against death or serious physical injury.
Knight said there were other statements from witnesses that depicted Caruthers’ threatening behavior, including comments that he “wasn’t afraid to go back to the penitentiary.”
Gurley will not be charged for shooting Caruthers, but on Tuesday he was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for illegal possession of the gun used in the shooting. Gurley was convicted of a felony in 1997 in North Carolina making it illegal for him to own a gun.
Knight said Gurley did not commit the crime as far as felon in possession of a gun under state law.
“The underlying crime, the felony in North Carolina, would have been a misdemeanor in Missouri,” Knight said. “That’s why the case was referred from our office down to the U.S. Attorney’s office.”
According to Knight, because the underlying crime would have been a misdemeanor, the possession of a gun couldn’t play a role in a murder charge.
In his letter to interim Police Chief Geoff Jones, Knight said, “There is no probable cause to believe Gurley committed a crime by shooting Caruthers and logically, proof beyond a reasonable doubt does not exist.”
Knight said he waited to publicly release his decision on the charges until the federal case was closed because he didn’t want to jeopardize the integrity of that case.
