MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TEXAS — On March 3rd, 2022, a jury found Justin M. Hollie not guilty in a shooting death at his home in 2018.
On November 11, 2018, in the middle of the night, firefighter Nicholas Daniel drove his truck up onto Hollie’s lawn and began banging on his door. Hollie’s two young children were inside the home at the time. Daniel pursued Hollie into the backyard, where he grabbed Hollie by the shirt and punched him in the face. Hollie then fired 13 shots from a .40 caliber handgun, striking Daniel. Hollie immediately called 911 to report what happened, stating that he thought Daniel was dead.
Investigation revealed that earlier in the day, Hollie sent a text message to Daniel’s wife while at a party at Daniel’s house, which prosecutors called “inappropriate”. Witnesses allege that Daniel was on his way to confront Hollie about the text message when the shooting occurred. A gun was found in Daniel’s vehicle, but he didn’t have it on him when he confronted Hollie.
While Hollie immediately claimed self-defense, a grand jury indicted him on murder charges in March of 2019. The trial lasted four days and deliberations lasted seven hours. The prosecutors noted that the jury asked for clarification on legal issues prior to arriving at their decision. The prosecutor pointed out that a jury decision is the will of the community.
Prosecutor Brett Ligon said, “ Self-defense shootings raise issues that often need to be sorted out by a jury in the full light of day for everyone to understand all the facts.”
