Noblesville teen faces reckless homicide charge in pellet gun death

Jose Luis Romo and two other teenagers were target shooting in a Hamilton County field the evening of Oct. 30, when they heard noise coming from a nearby home’s driveway.

With their air rifles in hand, the three walked toward the south side of the house and climbed over a fence. After realizing that a man they knew was in the driveway, they decided to give him a scare.

One teen fired his rifle into the air. Romo fired his generally toward the man, according to a probable-cause affidavit, but not directly at him.

Moments later, though, the man cried out, saying he had been hit.

Romo and the other teens ran toward Jesus Martinez-Lopez to help him. He was lying on his left shoulder when police arrived. On the ground were droplets of blood and vomit.

The 45-year-old was taken to Riverview Hospital, where he later died. The cause of death was a penetrating gunshot wound to the chest, according to the Hamilton County coroner’s office.

Romo, 19, Noblesville, was arrested and charged with reckless homicide, a Class C felony punishable by up to eight years in prison. He told detectives that he was not aiming at Martinez-Lopez and that the shooting was an accident.

Romo’s statement as well as witness accounts in court documents shed some light on what happened at about 9:30 p.m. in the 2700 block of Cicero Road in Noblesville.

The death is an unusual case, experts say, and a conviction will hinge heavily on what constitutes “reckless.”

“Whether the state can demonstrate that he acted recklessly would be one of the primary issues,” said Indianapolis defense lawyer Scott Barnhart, who is not involved in the case.

According to Indiana law, a person acted recklessly if he or she engaged in conduct “in plain, conscious and unjustifiable disregard of harm” that might result in his or her actions.

Romo’s own words detailed in court documents may help the state’s case against him. When a detective asked Romo whose idea it was to scare Martinez-Lopez by firing the air rifles, Romo said he and the other teens decided to do so.

“If it was their intention to scare him, perhaps that would be evidence to support recklessness and demonstrate that he’s actually reckless,” Barnhart said.

A likely challenge in prosecuting such a case, however, is the slippery slope between recklessness and negligence, legal experts say.

“I think that’s the very question that a judge or jury or the attorneys in this case have to answer. Is this negligence? Or is he negligent in such a fashion that he’s reckless?” said Indianapolis lawyer Bryan Ciyou, who also is not involved in the case.

Ciyou said the nature of the gun involved — an air rifle that is not considered a firearm under federal law — could work in Romo’s favor. The air rifle was a high-powered pellet gun, but court documents do not indicate what caliber it is.

“Defense would likely argue that no one thinks a pellet gun is going to kill someone,” Ciyou said, “that it’s basically a freak accident instead of a criminal act.”

Andre Miksha, chief deputy prosecuting attorney for the Hamilton County prosecutor’s office, declined to comment on the charge. But he said Romo was not charged with murder or involuntary manslaughter.

Guy Relford, a Carmel attorney who also is not involved in the case, said such charges would be harder to prove in Romo’s case.

“I think that’s exactly why they charged the defendant with reckless homicide,” Relford said. “With murder, you have to intentionally kill a human being. With manslaughter, you have to intentionally kill a person when acting under sudden heat. I doubt they could prove he was intentionally trying to kill the victim.”

A call to Romo’s attorney, Karl Hadley, was not returned.

Deaths from non-powder guns are rare. Although the number of injuries over the past decade have averaged more than 20,000 annually in the U.S., only about four people have died each year, federal statistics indicate.

Such threats do raise concerns about firearm safety, said Ciyou, who also is the author of the Indiana Firearms Law Reference Manual.

“People, whatever they’re doing, whether shooting a BB gun or a paintball gun, they need to be aware what it is they’re shooting at and take the appropriate safety measures,” Ciyou said. “I think it raises the general issue about safety when you’re doing anything that has an inherently dangerous aspect to it.”

Relford, a firearms instructor who also specializes on Second Amendment rights and gun-related cases, said the issue lies with the lack of education. He said the same safety rules apply both in using real firearms and non-powder guns.

“People need to be educated to know that with an air rifle, you have to follow the same rules when you’re handling a real firearm. Rule No. 1 is never point a gun, including a pellet gun, in the direction of another person,” Relford said. “I think this case points out how dangerous even a pellet gun or an air rifle can be.”

Call Star reporter Kristine Guerra at (317) 444-6209. Follow her on Twitter: @kristine_guerra.