LANCASTER, Pa. — The Lancaster man who stabbed and killed another man who had unlawfully entered his home on Dec. 29 was justified under the Castle Doctrine, Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams said Friday.
As a result, no charges will be filed in the case, she concluded.
An investigation into the death of Carlos Lopez-Perez, 55, determined that he was unlawfully trying to enter a South Ann Street home on the night of Dec. 29, Adams said.
The man who stabbed him was inside the home with a woman who had recently been in a relationship with Lopez-Perez and was staying at the man's home after reporting an alleged case of domestic violence involving Lopez-Perez and her healthcare provider the day before, according to Adams.
The male occupant stabbed Lopez-Perez after Lopez-Perez forced his way into the home, Adams said. The stabbing occurred after the man repeatedly yelled at Lopez-Perez, telling him to stay out of the man's room.
"The pertinent law, commonly referred to as the Castle Doctrine, provides that deadly force can be used to protect oneself against death or serious bodily injury from an intruder," Adams said in her determination.
"After a thorough review of the investigation by the Lancaster City Police, which included several witness interviews, a neighborhood canvass for other witnesses, forensic processing of the crime scene, collecting physical evidence, a review of video footage from the area and the 911 recordings, as well as the autopsy conducted by the Lancaster County Coroner’s office, our office has ruled that the male occupant acted in self-defense and was justified in his actions," she said.
"Accordingly, no charges are warranted under the law."
Here's a summary of the facts in the case, provided by Adams' office:
- On December 29, 2020, at approximately 7:59 a.m., officers from the Lancaster City Bureau of Police were dispatched to a residence on South Ann Street for a disturbance, which was then upgraded to a stabbing.
- The reporting person and occupant of the residence informed dispatchers that someone was breaking into his apartment and then, in a subsequent call, reported that he had stabbed the person.
- Officers arrived at the scene and found Lopez-Perez laying inside the front door in the vestibule area of a multi-residence building. Lopez-Perez was determined to be deceased at the scene.
- On the morning of December 29th, Lopez-Perez walked to the Ann Street residence and began yelling and pounding on the locked security door, inside the first floor of the building.
- Lopez-Perez walked around to the side of the building to gain access to the fire escape stairs. Lopez-Perez climbed the fire escape and knocked several times on the window outside the male’s room.
- Lopez-Perez then returned to the front of the building, entered the vestibule, and began knocking and pounding on the locked security door again, while yelling to open the door.
- Lopez-Perez eventually shattered the glass portion of the door and unlocked the door to gain entry to the rooms within the building.
- Lopez-Perez proceeded up the stairs to the second floor, where the male resided, and began pounding on the locked wooden door.
- At this time, the male occupant called 911 and yelled numerous times for Lopez-Perez to stay out of his room.
- Lopez-Perez then forced entry into the room by breaking the door nearly in half and separating parts of the door from the lock mechanism.
- The male occupant ordered Lopez-Perez to get out of his room and a struggle ensued.
- During the struggle, the male stabbed Lopez-Perez, and the struggle continued into the hallway, outside the male’s room and at the top of the stairs.
- Lopez-Perez fell down the stairs coming to rest at the bottom of the stars inside the damaged security door.
- The male returned to his room and called 911 again, and frantically explained that he needed help because he had just stabbed the person who broke into his room. He and the female friend were in the room when the incident occurred.
- Investigators listened to the 911 call recordings and confirmed that the reporting male had called 911 from his cell phone while Lopez-Perez was attempting to break into the security door on the first floor of the Ann Street property and remained on the line with the dispatcher, explaining what was happening and that he needed the police.
- Investigators also confirmed via the 911 calls that the reporting male yelled numerous times to Lopez-Perez to stay out of his room.
- The investigation revealed that Lopez-Perez knew where the woman was staying on December 29th, but Lopez-Perez was unknown to the male resident.
- An examination of the woman's phone confirmed that Lopez-Perez made numerous attempts to contact her on December 28th and 29th.
- The female reportedly had a friend tell Lopez-Perez to stop contacting her.
Under the Castle Doctrine, Adams said, a person can use deadly force to protect themselves when the following factors apply:
- The person against whom the force is used (in this case Lopez-Perez) is in the process of unlawfully and forcefully entering, or has unlawfully and forcefully entered and is present within, a dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle
- The actor knows or has reason to believe that the unlawful and forceful entry or act is occurring or has occurred.
Adams concluded that both factors were present in this case.
Here, the intruder did not live at the home, nor was he invited to the home. Rather, the homeowner, who had not authorized entry, specifically told Lopez-Perez to get out of his home.
The male and female were completely cooperative with police and gave interviews that were consistent with the evidence in the case, Adams said. Statements from other witnesses who reside inside the Ann Street building and either heard or saw portions of the event also corroborated the reporting males’ statement.
A folding knife, which was not used in the fatal stabbing, was found on Lopez-Perez’ person which fell out of his pants pocket when his body was moved.
Detective Stan Roache from the Lancaster County Bureau of Police was the lead investigator and Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Ponessa assisted in the review of the case.
