HOUSTON - Family members are speaking out after a murder charge was dismissed against a woman who killed a man in a road rage incident in NW Harris County. That woman claimed self-defense.
The case has been going for nearly three years now and it's been painful on both sides. The woman who pulled the trigger wasn't charged until five months later. Now, as the trial was finally approaching, prosecutors decided they didn't have enough evidence after all.
"Every single day is a challenge, every day," said Jonathan Ables' mother Charlene Aucoin.
There could never be a happy ending for Ables' family, not after the 22-year-old was shot to death in a gas station parking lot, back in September 2012. But this, his parents say, was their worst fear.
"She was given a second chance and our son and our family was not and we will forever live with the burden that he is no longer here," said Mrs. Aucoin.
Harris County Prosecutors decided on Monday to drop the murder charges against Crystal Scott, saying that after reviewing the case, they did not believe they had enough evidence to prove murder at trial.
It started as a case of road rage. Scott and Ables got into a minor accident, then both pulled in to a gas station to exchange information.
But Scott said that Ables walked up and started banging on her car door, trying to open it, that she was afraid, so she pulled out her permitted gun and shot him through the window. Her attorney calls it a classic "Stand Your Ground" case.
"She feels a lot of empathy for them and she wishes the things that occurred on that morning didn't occur," said Scott's attorney Letitia Quinones. "But she doesn't change the fact that she felt like her life was in danger and she did what she had to do to get home to her daughter that day."
There were conflicting witness accounts, some saying Ables did reach for the car door, others that his hands were up in the air.
"We know from day one, when we were first interviewed, the day it happened. We knew that could not have been true," said Mrs. Aucoin, referring to the allegations against her son.
"That wasn't who he was," added Ables' stepfather Kyle Aucoin.
The family believes Scott had other options to protect herself.
"I wouldn't expect someone to shoot and kill a person, being in a locked vehicle, having a way to get away," said Mr. Aucoin.
The couple says that though they say they've now forgiven Scott, they haven't given up on justice.
"It is up to me now to make this happen," said Mr. Aucoin. "I will get justice for our son eventually."
Ables' parents have some serious questions about how the investigation was run and they plan to push for federal charges.
They're also trying to start a national day of road rage awareness on September 17, the day their son was killed.
