Victoria, Texas, is a friendly, American town known as “The Crossroads” for its close proximity to the larger cities of Corpus Christi, Houston, San Antonio and Austin. Victoria has a population of more than 60,000 and is 30 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.
According to the victoriaadvocate.com, just after midnight on Nov. 13, 2019, local police were called to a private residence on Monterrey Drive in Victoria. Police received reports of gunshots fired and quickly arrived at the home. Inside the home was a man, two women and a corpse — 42-year-old Kyle Kirby — who had succumbed to his wounds in the home’s front hallway.
Crossroadstoday.com reported that an altercation between Kirby and a 31-year-old man named Andrew Guzman had taken place, which resulted in gunfire being exchanged. The victoriaadvocate.com also noted that when police arrived, they found a handgun with a magazine that had been removed on top of a coffee table.
There was some confusion when police arrived, and the victoriaadvocate.com noted that, “The VPD sought a search warrant for murder due to the initial officer’s observations upon arrival at the scene. After the preliminary investigation, it was determined that this was a self-defense case,” citing a Victoria Police Department statement.
Texas, as do many other states, has an ever-evolving body of law when it comes to self-defense and the use of firearms. In 2018, houstonpublicmedia.org published a summary of how the law has evolved. In 1973, Texas imposed the “duty to retreat” portion of the law, which required an individual to prove it was not possible to move to a safer space to avoid a deadly confrontation.
In 1995, the law became more favorable to those who had to use self-defense, and an individual could use the “castle doctrine” to defend his or her home and property and it was not required to “run away” to a safer place.
By 2007, Texas lawmakers had amended the law again, and essentially reversed the “duty to retreat” portion, clarifying that a person need “only to prove they had a legal right to be present during the act of defense.” Such laws are known as “Stand Your Ground” laws and are in place in several states.
While the burden of proof is typically left to the individual who engages in self-defense, law enforcement has quite a bit of discretion in determining just how much proof is required. In this case, while initially thought to be a murder, further investigation determined that it was a genuine case of self-defense.
When the medical personnel removed Kirby’s body, they determined that he had been shot once in the abdomen and once near his head. Also, his body was slumped over a revolver — further proof that lethal force was required to stop him.
The Victoria County District Attorney’s office confirmed that no arrests have been made. Citing court records, the victoriaadvocate.com reported that Kirby had a history of misdemeanor convictions, while Guzman had one traffic violation on file.
