Community Rallies for Oklahoma Father Charged with Murder for Shooting Burglar Breaking Into His Business
A community is rallying around an Oklahoma veteran and father who has been charged with first-degree murder after defending his marijuana business. LaRue Bratcher, 34, has been in prison for almost a year after he fatally shot a white man attempting to burglarize his shopop, Premium Smoke, LLC in Oklahoma City.
“Someone broke into his place,” Bratcher’s uncle Derrick Neighbors said at a rally for Bratcher. “He didn’t go out looking for trouble. He was in his own place of business.” The father of five trial is set to begin later this month, News On 6 reported. The incident took place May 26, 2020, when officers responded to a shooting at the shop, where 42-year-old Daniel Hardwick attempted to burglarize Bratcher’s business.
“He was trying to break in when the business owner, who was inside the business at the time, apparently opened fire with a handgun, striking and killing the man who was breaking in,” Msgt. Gary Knight of the Oklahoma City Police Department said according to KFOR.
Bratcher called police after shooting Hardwick. Bratcher’s family says he intended to fire warning shots, however, one of them struck the man, who was trying to break in for the second night in a row. Court documents show Bratcher grabbed his gun when he heard someone at the back door. He would ask the stranger what he was doing before firing three shots. Bratcher told police at the time of the shooting that the door was “locked and secured” when he started shooting.
Officers reached out to the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority to ensure Bratcher’s business was legal. They discovered that his license was expired. Bratcher was arrested and 480 plants, amounting to $1,500,000 of marijuana, were confiscated. Bratcher was initially arrested for growing marijuana without a license and his bond was set at $5,000. Then after the district attorney’s office reviewed the case, Bratcher was charged with second-degree murder.
When Bratcher got arrested for the murder charge he was out on bond and officers came to his home where he was with his family.
“At that time, I had the baby who was six months old, and to have a gun pointed at her face, that was horrible,” Vicky Bratcher, LaRue’s wife told the news station. “It was a horrible experience.”
Bratcher’s charge was later changed to first-degree murder late last year.
“It’s just me with the kids and to know that you go from one charge to the next charge and not knowing what’s going to happen,” Bratcher’s wife said. “It’s like our life is at suspense right now.” She’s been managing the store alone since the shooting last year.
Bratcher’s attorney Clay Curtis says justice will only he’s able to go home.
At the rally, Bratcher’s family called on community members to stand up for him as well.
“When you’re in trouble, somebody has to fight for you,” Neighbors said, according to News 9. “This is my family and we’re going to fight for him.”
Oklahoma City attorney Jacqui Ford told The Black Times that “the Oklahoma Legislature permits self-defense if the person you defended yourself against was in the process of forcefully entering, or had unlawfully entered, a home, occupied vehicle, or business.”
However, prosecutors say Bratcher’s actions were felonious because his cannabis license was expired at the time.
Earlier this year the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority changed its policy to allow cardholders to apply for a new license while still using their expired one until the new one comes in the mail. A petition for Bratcher’s release has received more than 1,600 signatures.
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