Murder In America - EP. 130 OHIO - Mitchell Duckro: Killer or Hero?

Episode Date: October 20, 2023

Last year, in 2022, a random shooting rocked the small town of Sidney, Ohio. But when the public learned about the details of the case, it quickly became a national news story, and polarized all of America. This is the story of the shooting of James Rayl... and you're listening to MURDER IN AMERICA. - Learn how to navigate YOUR brain today with BETTERHELP! Head to https://www.betterhelp.com/MIA today to get 10% off your first month. - Stay Connected: Join the Murder in America fam in our free Facebook Community for a behind-the-scenes look, more insights and current events in the true crime world: https://www.facebook.com/groups/4365229996855701 If you want even more Murder in America bonus content, including ad-free episodes, come join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/murderinamerica Instagram: http://instagram.com/murderinamerica/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/people/Murder-in-America-Podcast/100086268848682/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MurderInAmerica TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theparanormalfiles and https://www.tiktok.com/@courtneybrowen Feeling spooky? Follow Colin as he travels state to state (and even country to country!) investigating claims of extreme paranormal activity and visiting famous haunted locations on The Paranormal Files Official Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheParanormalFilesOfficialChannel - (c) BLOOD IN THE SINK PRODUCTIONS 2023 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Life is a journey. I know this. I think we all know this. Some days feel good and other days feel absolutely overwhelming. Whatever's keeping you up at night, it's easy sometimes to feel like you have to figure it all out on your own. But the truth is, nobody has all the answers. And no journey should be taken alone.

However, having someone with you to listen, to understand, and to support. you can make all the difference. I know that I'm a huge therapy advocate I've advocated for therapy for years. And if you want to give therapy a try, BetterHelp is a great place to start. BetterHelp therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully licensed in the U.S. BetterHelp also does the initial matching work for you so you can focus on your therapy goals. A short questionnaire helps identify your needs and preferences and their 12 plus years of experience and industry leading match fulfillment rate means they typically get it right the first time. And something that I love is if you aren't happy with your therapist match, you can switch to a different therapist at any time from their tailored recommendations.

I've personally used BetterHelp in the past, and I think that if you're on the edge, if you're thinking maybe it's time to start therapy, I say just go ahead and do it. There's literally no downside, because you don't have to be on this journey alone. Find support and have someone with you in therapy. Sign up and get 10% off at BetterHelp.com slash MIA. That's BetterHELP.com slash MIA. The following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories

by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects. Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned. For years now, we have covered dozens of stories on this podcast where guns are used to take a human life. and most of the time the person pulling the trigger is the bad guy.

But the question we will present to you in this story is when is taking a life justified? In July of 2022, the DeCrow family in Sydney, Ohio had no idea that their lives were about to change. It had been a seemingly normal summer. But one day, after coming home from running errands, someone from their past would show up at their front door, and Mitchell and Stacey DeCrow knew exactly who it was. It was their daughter's ex-boyfriend, 22-year-old James Rail. Through ring camera footage that we will play throughout this episode, you will hear the DeCrow's tell James to leave several times,

but he doesn't, and instead he starts to break their door down. After multiple warnings, Mitchell DeCrow aims the guise the guise the guise the guise, at the intruder, and he shoots him three times, killing him. This story sparked a lot of controversy not just in Ohio, but all throughout the nation. Some claim that Mitchell DeCrow is a murderer, but others call him a hero who did what he had to do to protect his family. So this is their story. I'm Courtney Browen.

And I'm Colin Browne. And you're listening to Murder in America. Relationships are pretty complicated. For many teenagers, you'll have your first date, your first kiss, and for some, it'll be the first time you fall in love. It's an exciting time, but it's also full of emotions, both good and bad. And since our brains aren't fully developed, it can be pretty complicated and sometimes even toxic. But unless your high school sweethearts, there usually comes a time when you grow up, a time where you realize you've outgrown your high school relationship, and you're ready to move on. Which is exactly what happened with Allison Ducrow.

in Sydney, Ohio. She attended Fairlawn High School, and throughout her time there, she had an on-and-off boyfriend named James Rail. And like many high school relationships, it was pretty rocky. The two would have fights and break up, but they would always keep in contact and try to stay friends afterwards, which is never a good idea. As we all know, staying friends with an ex usually just leads to getting back together again, which is exactly what happened.

Allison would later say that he was generally a nice guy, but they still weren't good for each other. And although James was never physically abusive towards her, he would text her some pretty damaging things, like calling her worthless or saying no one will ever love you. And we've all heard of relationships like that. If you weren't N1 yourself, you probably know someone that was. But there usually comes a time where you finally realize that this relationship is no longer serving you. For Allison, that came in 2019. After years of back and forth, with James, she decided to end it once and for all. It definitely wasn't an easy decision for her, but she was ready to move on and cut ties. And just to make sure he wouldn't come creeping back into

her life like he always did, she blocked him on all social media. I want to say in total, maybe like a year and a half, if we got to develop up. Like all for your high school years or after you graduated? It started in high school recently? Okay. and off were they bad breakups or? Okay. Every single time. So I don't.

And when was the final breakup? I'm gonna say maybe 2019 or 2020. I'm not positive. Okay. What caused that break up? He was just, you can say whatever you need to say. You were just being rude all the time

and I was just like I don't want to. Was he ever abusive physically or mentally? Well, maybe mentally a little bit. He was just getting my head a bunch. When he got mad, what kind of things? What kind of thing was? Was he aggressive at all? Tell me everything that was wrong with me, he would say that nobody was going to love me anymore.

Stuff like that because he's a child. Okay. Would he scream those things to you? No, there's all over text and everything. He would never say it to my face, which... Okay. So you broke up in 2019. Did you bring old friends after that?

Not that last time, no. I said I didn't want to have anything to do with them anymore after that. Are you Facebook acquaintances? anything like that, where you could have kept them on the aisle what you were doing? I had blocked them off. Everything that I could have. Okay. Now, following their breakup, both Allison and James seemed to be thriving without each other.

James even moved to California for a year and a half, where he got really into fitness and working out. But for whatever reason, James decided to move back home to Sydney, Ohio. Allison knew he was back, but she had no intentions of rekindling their relationship. and she made that pretty clear. When's the last time you had talked to him? I said, um, it was at the beginning of last year, the end of the year before, because he had, my cousin had been living with us for a little bit. Okay. And him and my cousin were friends and he came to pick him up.

And I told Clay, my cousin was like, hey, could you tell him that I'm not comfortable with him being over and everything. The other than yeah, it was that. But I never like personally said anything to him. Right. Now, because Allison and James had mutual friends, she would always hear little updates about him and how he was doing. And according to his friends, after he moved back home from California, something was different about him. Is there anything about him that you think we should know about his personality? Has he ever threatened anybody before?

Was he like a fighter? I thought he was always very nice. I mean, he worked out all the time. I don't know. Like he did any boxing or anything. I don't know. Okay. But, yeah, he was okay in high school,

but then after he came back from California, he just moved different. Like his close friends or whatever, he just started treating like crap, and nobody wanted to do with it. Now, like we mentioned, Allison and James were not in contact with one another during this time.

She had heard things about him here and there from his friends, but that was it. He was now just a distant memory, a person from. her past. So on the night of July 30th, 2022, she was not expecting a phone call from him. The call came in pretty late at around 11.30 p.m. And Allison was already asleep, so she missed it. But the following morning when she woke up, she was surprised to see a voicemail from her ex.

So she pushed play, and this is what she heard. I just wanted to see how you're doing and maybe hear from you if that would be all right ideas. It's been a while since I've talked to you and I don't know. I feel like I do want to talk to you though. I do. It'd be nice. It's sweet. It's probably late right now, but if you want tomorrow, you could probably.

give me a call. And, yeah, it's about it. Please give me a call back. Thank you. As Allison listened to the voicemail, she was taken aback. She hadn't heard James' voice in over a year, and she didn't really know what to think of it.

Of course, she still cared about him, but she had finally moved on after years and years of going back and forth. and after giving it some thought, she figured it was best not to open old wounds, so she didn't respond. And hopefully, she thought by ignoring his voicemail, he would get the message that she wasn't interested and he'd leave her alone. But sadly, that would not be the case. Now, before we get into the events of July 31st, 2022, we're going to tell you what we know about James Douglas Rail. He was born on February 25, 2000, in Louisville, Kentucky.

And from what we could tell, he came from a very tight-knit family. After spending eight years of his childhood in Kentucky, his family packed up and moved to Sydney, Ohio. And from looking on Facebook, it's clear he was very close to his older sister, Jessica. She would later write, No one else knew a baby was in my belly growing in 2016, except for you until our family Christmas. I remember going to the beach with you and us telling you about the wee little baby

growing and that you were going to be an uncle. You first said, Wait, really? Like I would really go so far as to make the shirts for Justin and I just to play a joke on James. You were so excited. You couldn't believe it. You kept saying you were going to be the best uncle and I believed it. With a heart like yours, how could you not be? Jessica also talked about how her brother had a heart of gold. She said he would always send her random text messages, just checking in on her, or just to say he was proud of her. Many people in James's family had similar things to say about him, like how he cared deeply for people and always put others before himself. Now, as for other aspects of James' life, there isn't a ton of information out there.

We do know that he went on to graduate from Fairlawn High School, an Upper Valley Career Center, which is a public vocational school that is designed to train students in a variety of skills. And after graduation, he and Allison would continue to date for a short period of time, before she ultimately broke up with him. And after spending some time in California, James came back to Ohio where he seemed to be living in normal life. According to friends and family, he spent the majority of his free time working out, playing basketball, and lifting weights. At the time, he was employed as a professional steel worker, where he had recently been working the third shift. Now, Allison did say that throughout their relationship, James was known to dabble in drugs, but it was mostly acid and marijuana.

Do you know if he was on any drugs or have he ever done any drugs that you know of? Okay, do you know what his drug of choice is? He liked to do acid a lot. Okay. Back then, I don't know about recent because he moved out to California, not too many go and then came back so I don't know if he like started something while he was out there. Gotcha. When did he come back?

How long has he been back in town, do you know? I want to say maybe a year. So back then when you were dating him and kind of friends with him, acid and weed and I don't know what else he did other than that. Was he a wrong meth or heroin or anything? I don't think he were the toy because I didn't like it. Right. But despite this recreational drug use, James really didn't show any major red flags. There were no signs of mental illness or any history of violence.

And yes, his friends said that his demeanor had changed since moving back. But no one could have predicted the events that were about to understand. unfold. On July 31st, 2022, after waking up and listening to the strange voicemail from her ex-boyfriend, Alison DeCrow decided to just ignore the message and go about her day. She and her mom, Stacy, went out for breakfast that morning with a friend at the local Perkins restaurant in town. Afterwards, they dropped the friend off and stopped by the local Speedway before finally returning home at 2907. North Cuthar Road. By this point, it was 11 a.m. and nothing was amiss. Allison and Stacey grabbed their things and make their way to the front door of their home. The movement of them walking up

initiates their ring camera to start recording, so everything from this point forward is documented. Now in the video, right as Allison and Stacey walk up to the front door, they hear a car pull into their driveway. You see both of them turn their heads to look around and then they both go inside. Now at first, neither of them recognized who had just pulled up to their home, but they decided to lock the deadbolt just in case. We will be posting this video on our Instagram and Patreon, so if you want a visual, make sure to head over there. But here is the first few seconds of that audio. So as you can see, they aren't panicking just yet. They even talk to their dogs as they unlock the door. But moments after walking inside and locking the door, the ring camera captures

a video of James Rayl approaching their home. He's wearing a navy blue zip-up jacket, a beige t-shirt, black basketball shorts, and a blue baseball cap. Now, as he casually strolls up to the front porch, Allison can be heard in the background saying, quote, he's coming back. She also tells her mom that she doesn't want to talk to him. So Stacy intervenes. And she tells James, quote, James, she doesn't want to talk to you. But James doesn't seem to care. And from here, without saying a word, he starts to ring the doorbell several times. Here is the audio from that. I'm doing it. Wait.

He's leaving. Hey, he's coming back. No, no, I'm calling. James, she doesn't want to talk to you. Now in the video, James can be seen staring down at the ground, and he takes a big breath before reaching for the door handle. And it's here where the DeCrow family realizes that he's going to try and break in. So, fearing for her life, Allison calls 911.

911. What's your emergency? Someone guy on my front porch and he won't leave and he's got his hands behind his back and he'll answer me on the ring. Okay. He left me a voicemail on my phone last night. Where are you at? Which address? 2907 north of the road.

So you say 2907? He's trying to walk. I'm sorry. He's trying the door. Oh, God. Can you please hurry? Okay. In the background of that call, you just heard Allison's father,

52-year-old Mitchell DeCrow telling James to leave the property. But he doesn't listen. So from here, Mitchell walks to the family's garage to try and persuade James to leave the front porch and come talk to him. But unfortunately, James continues to ignore Mitchell, appearing to be almost in a daze. There's a blank look in his eyes, and again, he's not saying a word. So from here, Mitchell walks to his bedroom and grabs a gun. Meanwhile, James starts violently throwing his body against their front door. At this point, Mitchell gives James several more warnings.

He even tells him that he has a gun. But that doesn't stop James from trying to get inside. With each and every blow to their front door, he's getting closer and closer to breaking in. The doorframe began to split. The glass started to crack. And even though Mitchell is holding the door shut with his entire body, James is still somehow gaining entry. So to protect his family,

Mitchell aims the gun at James through the glass and quickly fires off three shots. Here is that audio. And here is that audio from Allison's 911 call. Hey, do you know who he is? 4 to 3. 8. He's starting to 2907, North-Pasur.

I'm sorry. I'm attempting to gain incoming to the road. Still getting further. Ma'am? Yeah? What's going on? Where my dad's shot at him? Mail, he's shot at him?

Where is he? Information. Mail subject of the door, there's been a shot, so I'm still getting further. Yes, what is your name? Allison Ducrow. Do you want, ma'am? Where is the subject that was both in? I don't know.

I don't know where he is. Did he run or is he still there? I really don't know, ma'am, I'm hiding. Okay, where is your dad? He's at the front door holding it shut. Do what? Now, something important to note is that when looking at the ring camera footage, you hear three simultaneous gunshots.

And with each shot, James, is turning his body away from the house, but all three bullets hit him while he's still on the front porch. Now, one of these bullets happened to hit him in the back since he was turning around, which will come up here in a little. But after getting shot, James stumbles off the front porch and he collapses on the driveway, just out of the ring camera's frame. Now in the camera, you can still see his feet. And after a fact, he collapses. few moments, James completely stops moving. Back inside of the DeCrow residents, both Stacy and Allison were screaming and distraught. And at one point while Allison was still on the phone with 911,

she could be heard thanking her father for saving her life. He is shot? He has been shot? Do what? I need you to calm down and up to tell me. Has he been shot? I think so. I don't want to look. Please don't make me look. Has he been... It's okay. I can talk.

It's fine. Okay. I need to know if he's been shot or not. I think, I believe so, yes. I'm sorry. Do we know who he is? Sorry. Yes.

I know who he is. No, Daddy, go to the back. Do we know who it is? He is an ex-boyfriend of mine. He's an ex-boyfriend? Yes. Yes. They're advising a male subject has been a shot.

I'm going to put squad on standby. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. You're fine. You're fine. Is he on your front porch? If he's still on the ground now on the front porch, yes, yes.

Now at this point, officers have been dispatched to the home, and while they wait for them to arrive, a neighbor named Jeffrey Hereford can be seen walking over to James's body that's laying on the driveway. Stacey then yells out to him. He tried breaking into our house. He was trying to hit our daughter. But Jeffrey clearly didn't see James violently throwing his body

against the Duke Crow's door, so he doesn't see James as a threat. At this point, more neighbors gather in the front yard, and they all stand around James' body. And just by looking at him, it's clear that he's about to die. He's got to heart off reading right now. Now he ain't going, yeah. He's still brave.

I can still bring. I see. He's still brain. He's still breathing He's having a hard time. It's something for, I mean, he's still breathing, but barely. By the time police arrive at the Ducro's home, the neighbors informed the officers that the man lying on the ground is dead.

It was obvious from one glance that James Rail had succumbed to his injuries. Here's the audio from when the officers pull up to the house. First responders attempted to render aid by using defibrillator pads to jumpstart James's heart, but it soon became clear that they were too. too late. Twenty-two-year-old James Rail was already deceased. Now, inside of the home, one of the officer's body cameras captured him trying to figure out exactly what had happened. Here he is asking Allison about her relationship with the suspect. So you've been split up for a couple

years? When's the last time you've talked to him? So there's been no communication for two years and then just out of the blue. He started... The detectives will want to check that out and everything. from here the Shelby County Sheriff's Department taped off the area and covered James's body the scene was then processed for evidence the Sydney Police Department's captain Jerry Tangerman walked through the residents and took pictures of everything inside the gun used in the shooting was placed on top of the fireplace mantle and there were three hollow point nine millimeter spent cartridges on the floor inside of the living room it was also very clear to everyone investigating the scene that James had tried to break in there was no question about that The Ducro's wooden front door was broken and splintered, and the doorframe had completely detached from the wall. But the most damning evidence of all was the ring camera footage. Not only did it show James breaking in, but it also showed that both Mitchell and Stacey gave him multiple warnings before he was shot. After processing the scene, James Rale's body was taken to the Montgomery County Coroner's Office for an official autopsy. and the DeCrow family was brought to the police station to give their statements.

During Stacey's interview, it was clear that she was very shaken up about everything that went down. And she started by walking the investigators through everything that went down that day, starting with the voicemail. As Stacey recounted the events of that morning, she sobbed. She told the detectives that she feared for her daughter's life as James broke their door down. She said that the look on his face was terrifying, void of any emotion. The detective also showed Stacey his support, reassuring her that James's actions that day were very unusual. And although Stacey defended her husband's actions that day, she also thought about James' family, saying, quote, I can't imagine what his parents are going through.

end quote. Now, as for Mitchell's interview, he told investigators that he had been downstairs in the basement watching a movie when he heard some commotion upstairs. He said he paused the movie and went to the family's living room to find his daughter's ex-boyfriend standing outside, ringing the doorbell. Now, Mitchell didn't even know about the strange voicemail that James had left on Allison's phone, But as soon as he walked upstairs and saw his daughter's face, he could immediately tell that she was scared of James's presence. So that's when they started telling him to leave. But even more alarming was that as he and his wife tried to communicate with James

to tell him to go away, he just stood there, ignoring them. During the interview, it was obvious to investigators that Mitchell had acted in self-defense. One cop even said that it was really good he had that ring camera because it clearly showed that he was trying to defend his home and his family, which is very true. If they wouldn't have had that footage, it wouldn't have been as easy to see what happened there. But for most people, they viewed Mitchell Ducrow as a hero. He was a father who saw that his daughter was in danger and he did what he had to do to protect her. But not everyone would share this same opinion. On Monday, August 1st, 2022, two Shelby County detectives attended the autopsy of James Rail.

And due to his erratic behavior on the day of the incident, a toxicology report was conducted, but all that was in James' system was marijuana. So he wasn't under the influence of any crazy hard drugs. It was also found in the autopsy that he had been shot three times, once in the right shoulder, once in the left shoulder, and once in the back. And it was found that that shot to the back was the one that caused his death. So as you can imagine when word got out that James was shot in the back, there was a lot of controversy.

Historically, a shot to the back means murder. But for this case, it's not so black and white. Like we mentioned earlier, all three. shots were fired one after the other, and they all hit James while he was still on the porch. In fact, he was so close to their front door when he was shot in the back, there were actually shards of glass found in his bullet wound from the decorative window. So it's not like Mitchell was chasing him down as James ran away. But James' family didn't see it that way. To them, a shot in the back meant that James was murdered. And they wanted the same.

the man responsible, prosecuted. Later that same day, it was determined that the case would be presented to a Shelby County grand jury. The CF Mitchell could be prosecuted for James's murder. So the following day, on August 2nd, Detective Chris Brown and Sheriff Fry met with James's mother, stepfather, and sister. And during that meeting, they were shown a lot of the evidence in the case, including the ring video footage, copies of the 911 calls, and all of the police interviews of Allison, Stacey, and Mitchell, and that only caused more controversy. James' family felt as if the Ducrose weren't even that phased by James's murder.

In one part of Allison's interview, she was even seen smiling, but it's important to note that that doesn't mean she doesn't care. If you listen to the 911 call, you can clearly hear how terrified she was throughout the entire ordeal, and sometimes people react in strange ways. Now, in order for them to do a thorough investigation, the investigators asked James' family to send in any tips that could help his case, but nothing that was sent in would really help. So on August 4th, all of the evidence from this case was presented to a grand jury. There were photographs, the ring camera footage, 911 calls, witness statements, autopsy results,

interview videos, body cam footage, you name it. And although everyone could recognize that this was a tragic story all around, the grand jury had something very important to consider, which is the stand-your-ground law and the castle doctrine. Now, as a little history lesson, the castle doctrine has origins and the medieval English common law, and it basically states that everyone has a right to defend their home from an attack or an unlawful entry,

even if that means using deadly force. The castle doctrine was upheld in the case, United States Supreme Court back in 1895 and it made it to where if someone comes to try and take your land you're allowed to kill them because that land is yours now the stand your ground law makes it to where if someone comes onto your property and tries to harm you you're also allowed to use deadly force to defend yourself or your family in 2005 Florida was the first to emmaidly implement this law and since then many others have followed suit. But you can't just shoot people on your property and claim stay on your ground.

If you could, there would be a lot of people getting away with murder, so there are very specific requirements that must be met. Like, it has to be an unprovoked attack. You can't be the initial aggressor. There also has to be a reasonable degree of forced, used, and response to the threat, and the person has to fear that they are going to be injured or murdered. So as you can see, this story checks all of those boxes. And thanks to the ring camera footage, it was very clear that the DeCrow family feared for their lives,

as James was breaking their front door down. And under the Stand Your Ground Law, they were within their rights to use deadly force. Now, luckily for Mitchell, the state of Ohio had just eminent. implemented this law in April of 2021. According to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, the person who is attacked without fault of his own may use deadly force only if he reasonably and honestly believed that deadly force was necessary to prevent serious bodily harm or death. If the person does not have this belief, he should not use deadly force.

Again, if it does not put your life or the life of others in danger, you should withdraw from the confrontation if it is safe for you to do so. It's also important to note that although James was unarmed, the DeCrow's didn't know that. And during parts of the break-in, James was seen putting his arms behind his back. Not to mention, they told him to leave the property several times, even warning him that they had a gun, which is a pretty scary thought. If someone is bold enough to continue breaking a door down, after you tell them that you're armed, who knows what they're capable of. Now clearly we don't know what James' intentions were. No one does, and he's not here to tell us. Maybe he didn't go there to harm Allison, but there's also a chance that he did,

and Mitchell DeCrow wasn't willing to take that chance. Now, the grand jury in this case would ultimately make an eight-to-one vote to throw out the felony indictment, meaning Mitchell would not be prosecuted due to the stay on your ground law. After the ruling, prosecutors sell and Sheriff Fry issued a statement to the family of James Rail, and said they extend their sympathies in the loss of their loved one, and to all affected by this incident. Fry also told Inside Edition, this is a no-win situation for any of the parties. It is very, very sad.

But that wasn't enough for James' family. His sister told Inside Edition, there wasn't a full investigation done. They were only on the scene for two hours and then rushed it to a grand jury. My brother had no history of anger or violence. He was very kind and compassionate. I just don't understand how there wasn't more compassion for James' life. Jessica also spoke out about the fact that no one tried to administer CPR as James bled out on the driveway for seven minutes before the police arrived, and that that should have been

looked at in the investigation. She also talked about wanting to make changes to Ohio's self-defense laws, stating, we do think that there needs to be some tweaks to it if that law is going to be in place. I feel like we need at least a full investigation first to see what needs to be changed so that this sort of incident doesn't happen to another family, and I don't wish this kind of pain on someone else. Now, Jessica would later say that she believed the Shelby County Sheriff's Department was biased towards Allison Ducrow because she had previously worked there as a dispatcher.

She also said that Mitchell was good friends with the sheriff, so due to these circumstances, she believed that her brother's death would not. never get a full investigation. But the county sheriff has responded to this saying that James's death did indeed get a full and thorough investigation. Now, this case caused a lot of controversy, not just in Ohio, but all throughout the nation. One side sees James as a young and harmless kid who was murdered, shot in the back by an angry father. Interestingly enough, the neighbor, who was the first to arrive at the DeCrow's property after the shooting, he believes that Mitchell shouldn't have shot him.

Next door neighbor, Jeffrey Hurford said he saw everything as well as rail on the ground. Just a shallow breathing. I was looking at the guy's hands. He wasn't, didn't have any gun in his hands or anything. Hurford does not agree with the neighbors or the police report. He says, from what he saw, Rail never made it inside. I don't see that. If he entered the house, why did he shoot through the door?

But on the other hand, many people around the U.S. have been very vocal in their support of Mitchell. And from what I've seen online, most people believe that he was justified in the shooting, and that he was just a father protecting his daughter. But with the new stand-your-ground laws here in the state, Ohioans do not have to back down if they feel threatened on their own property. I think he had every right. Which in the 911 call you can hear the daughter agree with. There's nothing you go to do that.

say my life. After the grand jury failed to bring charges against Mitchell, James's family launched a Justice for James campaign. The profile picture on the Facebook page shows a picture of James Rail with the words, quote, Mitch shot him in the back. Hashtag justice for James Rail. James's sister Jessica has made many posts on the page. One reads, quote, no matter what anyone says, those who knew him knew who he was and where his heart had always been, including his quote quote friend he went to see on his very last day. You do not know the whole story from one short clip. James was a wonderful good-hearted person,

and the reason we are fighting is because he deserves it. You may think you know everything after watching a three-minute clip or whatever you saw, but you do not. We look forward to being able to shed more light on all of this when we are able. Until then, maybe you shouldn't be so quick to judge a situation you know nothing about. End quote. One comment under that post read, If he was shot in the back, he was retreating.

He was also unarmed. So I think there may be more to the story than meets the eye. It might not be as simple as it seems. Another read, I'm truly sorry for your loss, but your brother has served the consequences of his own actions. breaking a door to someone's home, not knowing what his intentions were or if he had a weapon. He ignored all the warnings. His death is on him and him only.

Not you or your family, not the dad, Allison, or her family. Again, sorry for your loss. I can't imagine the heartbreak of this. Honor him in spirit. Another post made by James' family reads, quote, Mitch shot him in the back and killed him. We know more than just that, Mitchie. I hope your days are more men.

miserable than they've ever been. You're a disgusting excuse of a human being along with your daughter, end quote. Now, I will say that there are rarely any comments on this Facebook page that support James. I had to scroll for a while just to find a few. So it's clear that almost everyone agrees that Mitchell did what he had to do. But I also think it's important to recognize that James' family is her. hurting. If you've ever lost a loved one, then you know that grief is a hell of a journey. And I think in people's grief, they often search for answers, which is clear that that's what

his family is trying to do. And I can only hope that from here forward they find peace. Now, as for the Ducrow family, they were also very shaken up by everything that happened. So much so, they actually put their home up for sale just three weeks after the shooting. The horrible memories there were just too much to bear. So the spacious 1800 square foot three-bedroom home hit the market on August 18, 2012. And the asking price was $436,000. A description for the home read, a little piece of paradise. According to Zillow, the home sold on October 29, 2022.

And it really does make you wonder if the new owners know the story of what happened there. Now, it's unknown where the Ducrow family relocated to. And as for the Justice for James Real Facebook page, it appears that there has not been a lot of traction in their quest for justice. Now, even though this story occurred in 2022, the ring camera footage of this incident has been getting a ton of attention on Facebook and TikTok. And if you haven't seen it yourself, I do recommend going to watch it before you make any judgments. because I do think it's important to see the way that James is breaking in rather than just hearing it. But this video is starting a huge conversation about people's right to defend themselves. And the question I will leave you with today is if you were in the DeCrow's position,

what would you have done? And what situations is it okay to take a human life? And when your family is in danger and you use deadly force, Will people call you a murderer or a hero? As for Mitchell DeCrow, it seems like the majority thinks the latter. Good hair days do more than we give them credit for. When your hair feels healthy, you show up differently. You feel more confident, more relaxed, and you're not constantly checking the mirror.

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schedules. So we appreciate everybody for tuning in every week and being a part of our extended family online. We love each and every one of you that listens. I want to shout out some of our new patrons, Kim, Sarah Cruz, Ruby Delgado, Stephen Montalango, Tamara Gutintalecki, Maria Elizabeth. Biff Alcatraz, Skittles, Amy Nassif, Tamia Facey, Katie Herrera, Gerowin, Maya Oliver, Virginia Castellanos, Little Red 48, Candice Stowe, Mike Lagrosso, Stacey, Lucy Cumbie, Travis Hallberg, and Eliana Paradise. I'm so sorry if I messed up anybody's names, but wow, we are still catching up on patrons to shout out from literally a month and a half ago.

If you want to have your name read at the end of an episode and you want access to all of our bonus content, all you have to do is head to Patreon. and search Murder in America. For only $5 a month, you get access to all of our episodes early and ad-free. For $10, you get all that, plus two full-length bonus episodes of the podcast posted exclusively on Patreon. And if you're generous enough to give $20 a month, we get you four full-length bonus episodes of the show every single month, along with all the episodes early and ad-free.

And we can all talk and chat on there. If you want to join our Facebook group, you can join our Murder in America Facebook group, or you can follow us on Instagram. to see photos from every case that we cover on the show. We have a couple really, really crazy episodes coming up in the near future, so we're excited to share those with you. And yeah, thank you all for tuning in on this Friday. Have a great weekend and catch you on the next one.