Marine Jailed for Punishment He Gave Unlucky Punk Who Attacked His Family

By Josiah Upper January 20, 2018 at 5:38pm

A Marine from Westland, Michigan, is under arrest for what appears to be a gambit to defend his home from a stranger’s armed invasion attempt, WJBK reports.

Despite being shot in the hip and multiple bullet holes in the home Marine Joey Nelson was defending, he was still arrested by authorities for “several felonies, including assault with intent to murder,” according to the local news station.

“My son was where he was supposed to be — inside his home with his legally owned firearm,” Steve Nelson, father of Joey Nelson, told WJBK.

The night of Jan. 5, Joey Nelson was inside his home with his fiancée, their 3-week-old son, and some friends when someone started violently banging on the door, trying to get in. That man would later be identified as 39-year-old Michael Wilson.

“I don’t know (who he is); my son doesn’t know him; the owner of the home doesn’t know him,” the elder Nelson reported.

The family claims Joey grabbed his gun, cracked the door, and told the stranger to leave.

Gunshots were his answer.

“He opened up the door because he was standing here in the yard,” Steve said.

“(Joey) told him to get off his property and at that time (Wilson) produced a gun and started shooting at my son.”

Should Nelson be facing criminal charges?

Nelson was shot in the hip, then he called 911 and got everyone downstairs. Joey then returned fire on Wilson, who fled when police arrived, although he was later apprehended.

Wilson’s charge?

Carrying a concealed weapon — that’s it, despite WJBK reporters confirming multiple bullet holes in the home in question.

“This man out here in the front yard fired multiple shots into a house with multiple people inside and a 3-week-old baby. Simple. And he’s (only) charged with concealing a weapon illegally?” Steve asked angrily.

WJBK reports that police claim a disturbance in the house over a female friend caused the shootout, which doesn’t match up at all with the account given by the family, and doesn’t match up particularly well with the bullet holes in the home, either.

Aside from the Marine and assailant being arrested, also charged was 24-year-old Kori Willhite for “disguising her identification to a police officer and possession of improper prescription drugs,” according to reports.

Now, if you want the opinion of someone who sees a lot of stories like this come across his desk, here’s my two cents.

As Robert Merritt, spokesman for the Lansing Police Department, stated early last year, “There’s a fine line that a lot of people don’t understand” about the justifiable self-defense use of a firearm, according to MLive.

“You have a right to protect yourself when your life is in jeopardy. But when someone turns around and runs away or otherwise disengages, you can’t use deadly force. The law doesn’t allow you to pursue someone when they retreat.”

Now, Nelson was clearly as some point in genuine fear for his life. There were bullet holes all over his house. He was shot in the hip. That’s open-and-shut.

It might be the opinion of Detroit law enforcement that Nelson continued to fire while Wilson was retreating.

That being said, it could just as easily be that the “fight over a mutual female friend inside the home” carried with it some legal transference of who was the “attacker” and who wasn’t, but that seems highly unlikely to me. Wilson was trying to break in to a home. He shot Nelson in the hip. On top of all that, Joey’s father said no one knew him.

There’s a lot here that just doesn’t add up.

Nelson’s upcoming legal battle is going to paid for in part by a GoFundMe fundraiser that has at the time of this writing collected a little more than $12,000 of its $20,000 goal.

What do you think? Please share this on Facebook and Twitter and let us know!

Submit a Correction →