Anyone who has a gun for self-defense has to be wary about how they use that gun. Many people think they’re justified to use that weapon in a variety of circumstances that would, in truth, land them a homicide charge much of the time.

And that’s if things are cut-and-dried.

If things get murky, then it’s potential that even a justified shoot would land one in court. Ask George Zimmerman how much fun that is, and his situation wasn’t even that difficult to comprehend.

A Washington, DC man is about to find out just how difficult life can become after a shooting.

Jason Lewis, the man accused of shooting 13-year-old Karon Blake outside his Washington, D.C., home earlier this month, has been charged with second-degree murder while armed, according to police.

Blake was shot and killed after an alleged interaction with Lewis, who said he saw Blake appear to be “tampering with” cars shortly before 4 a.m. on Jan. 7.

….

D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee said Tuesday that Lewis’ initial remarks to law enforcement left out key details.

Police said Lewis initially told authorities that he went out of his home and fired a shot at a parked, stolen vehicle. After that shot was fired, Blake and an unidentified person ran toward Lewis, who was standing outside of his door on his property, Contee said, and Blake was then shot.

However, Contee told reporters Tuesday it appeared that Blake was actually trying to run back to the car and the other individuals who were with Blake then tried to drive away before crashing.

“The biggest grievance is that the first shot that was fired was actually fired and someone who was sitting in the vehicle was not an immediate threat to the person who fired the shot. So that in itself raises issues, right?” the chief said.

Lewis pled not guilty to the charges.

The problem for us is just who do we trust here?

After all, if Lewis is telling the truth and Blake was running toward him, that’s certainly grounds for a self-defense claim.

If he was running away from him, that’s not, and that’s where things become an issue.

After all, there are a lot of people who think you can actually shoot at someone running away from you so long as they’re a bad guy. Unless there are extenuating circumstances that make that individual still a threat to you or someone else, you generally cannot.

Of course, there are exceptions, but that’s not what’s being alleged here. Not yet, anyway.

The truth is that if Contee is right, Lewis is being charged with homicide for a very good reason and will likely rot in jail because of his lapse of judgment. However, if there’s more to the story–and there very well may be–then homicide charges are unwarranted and likely motivated by politics rather than the facts of the case.

That’s wrong on every level if that’s what’s happening here.

Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait. Regardless, even if Lewis is innocent, he’s going to face a long, lengthy brush with the criminal justice system that will be about as much fun as a prostate exam performed by a porcupine.