Key Takeaways
- A Webster Parish homeowner shot and killed 44-year-old Billy McFarland of Marrero after McFarland cut through a window screen and entered with a knife.
- McFarland had earlier allegedly attacked a female driver, causing a crash on U.S. Highway 80 west of Minden, before fleeing the scene.
- Before forcing entry, McFarland vandalized two vehicles at the residence and banged on the front door before moving to the back of the home.
- Sheriff Jason Parker said the homeowner apparently feared for his life and the lives of others inside the residence.
- Parker does not anticipate charges against the homeowner, but the case will be forwarded to the District Attorney for final review.
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MINDEN, LA — A Webster Parish homeowner shot and killed a man who cut through a window screen with a pocket knife and climbed into his home early Sunday, and Sheriff Jason Parker says he does not anticipate charges against the homeowner.
Parker identified the man as 44-year-old Billy McFarland of Marrero, as reported by KTAL/KMSS. Investigators determined McFarland was shot multiple times as he tried to enter the residence on U.S. Highway 80 west of Minden.
The sequence started with a 911 call about 5:23 a.m. reporting a domestic disturbance inside a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed on U.S. 80. The vehicle crashed when McFarland allegedly jumped the female driver, according to the sheriff. A deputy was nearby, but McFarland was gone before the deputy arrived.
He then showed up at the residence. According to the sheriff’s office, he vandalized two vehicles there, breaking the rear window on one and the windshield of another. He started banging on the door. When nobody answered, he went around to the back of the home, climbed on top of an air conditioning unit, and used a pocket knife to cut through a window screen.
“We learned he had the knife in his hand when he came through the window,” Parker said.
The broken glass on the vehicles is not what this case turns on. A stranger who has just fled a crash, smashed up two vehicles outside your home, and is pounding on your door before sunrise is already a threat to everyone inside, because the people inside have no way of knowing what he wants. When he gives up on the door, goes to the back of the house, and forces his way through a window with a blade in his hand, whatever doubt remained is gone.
The homeowner fired. McFarland was hit multiple times. He did not survive.
“The homeowner apparently feared for his life and for the lives of others who were inside the residence,” Parker said. “We do not anticipate any charges, but we will continue to investigate and forward the results to the District Attorney for review.”
The stretch between the first noise outside and the knife coming through the screen is where mindset pays off. The homeowner had a short runway of escalating warnings, and he met the man at the window instead of being caught flat-footed inside his own house. Deciding ahead of time where your family goes, and having the firearm on you rather than across the house, is what makes that possible at that hour.
McFarland’s body was sent to Little Rock, Arkansas, for an autopsy to determine a possible cause for the actions that led to his death, the sheriff’s office said. Whatever that autopsy finds, the homeowner did not have it when the screen gave way. He had a man with a knife climbing into an occupied home.
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Investigators also learned McFarland had an extensive criminal history in his home area, including felonies.
No charging decision has been announced. The homeowner has not been identified, the sheriff’s expectation that no charges will be filed is his read of the evidence so far, and the District Attorney will make the final call once the investigation is forwarded for review.
