1, All homicide cases are referred to a Grand Jury in Texas, itza state law.
2, Texas law permits use of deadly force in just such a situation.
Man sleeping in truck shot and killed intruder who allegedly tried to rob him
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — A man shot and killed an alleged intruder who tried to rob him as he slept in his truck at an apartment complex in north Harris County, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said Tuesday morning.
Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the scene in the 300 block of Parramatta Lane near Imperial Valley Drive at about 3:12 a.m. after a man called saying he had shot someone, police said.
The suspected shooter was sleeping in the back seat of his four-door pickup truck when another man, believed to be armed, entered the truck and tried to rob him, Gonzalez said.
“The decedent was apparently burglarizing a number of vehicles in the parking lot – climbed into the reportee’s pickup truck. The reportee was armed with an AR-15 rifle,” HCSO Sgt. Ben Beall said.
The burglary suspect was shot several times and died on the scene.
“He was sleeping in the back seat of the truck, and the windows are heavily tinted, so he did not realize that the truck was occupied until he was actually sitting in the truck,” Beall continued.
The sheriff’s office says the burglary suspect was in his 20s, had a Glock pistol in his pocket, and a large screwdriver they believe he used to break into three or four other cars before breaking into the pickup truck.
ABC13 is told the man who was sleeping in his truck and fired the shots is cooperating with the investigation, and this case will be referred to a grand jury