The Davidson County District Attorney’s Office has ruled the fatal December shooting of a man trying to break into an Upton Street home a justifiable homicide.

Silvestre Begley, 21, died of a single gunshot wound to the chest. The shot was fired by homeowner Joseph Asis.

Asis will not face charges.

Sheriff Richie Simmons said in December that deputies received a call to a reported home invasion and shooting in the 100 block of Upton Street, just outside Lexington city limits, around 9:30 p.m. on Dec. 20.

Officers with the Lexington Police Department arrived first on the scene and found Begley dead on the front yard. He died before medical first responders arrived, Simmons said.

Simmons said Begley, who investigators say was armed, tried to break into the home, but did not gain entry before he was shot with a shotgun by the homeowner. Asis told authorities he shot Begley in self-defense.

Detectives with the Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division completed their investigation and submitted findings to the District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday.

North Carolina law states a person is justified in the use of deadly force if that person has “a reasonable fear of imminent death or serious bodily harm to himself or herself or another” from someone "unlawfully and forcefully" breaking into – or who has broken into – a home, car or workplace.

At least 26 other states have also adopted a form of this so-called “stand your ground law.”