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“And he knows what that is,” Oliveros said. “It’s someone trying to fire his gun.”

Fernandez pointed and attempted to shoot Lynch’s gun a second time moments later, Oliveros said, and Lynch hopped in his SUV, and hit and killed Fernandez. She said Lynch, a father of six, did not intend to kill the man, but he intended to stop him from doing anything else.

“It triggers in him the training, the combat training that he has as an Army vet, combat training that taught him that you must go forward,” she said, “you have a duty to go forward and make sure … to protect your firearm, to protect yourself and to protect others.”

Prosecutor Neal Speer said Lynch, who had used marijuana and had a couple of drinks that night, “didn’t let it go” even after Fernandez retreated.

“Ivory repeatedly did the wrong thing, and he continued to do that after the immediacy of any danger is over,” Speer said.

He did not immediately call 911, seek help from anyone or attempt to de-escalate the situation, Speer said. Lynch knew the gun he kept in the vehicle didn’t work properly and often wouldn’t fire, and Speer made it clear to jurors that Lynch was “the only witness that we have.”

“Ivory took a bad situation and he made it worse,” Speer said. “In fact, he made it much worse. I suspect that all of you have heard the phrase two wrongs don’t make a right.”

He left the parking lot after the confrontation, and saw Fernandez cross a street and walk into an alley before hitting him and then crashing, Speer said.

“He was so out of control, he slammed into a building,” Speer said. “He hit Ronnie so hard that Ronnie flew down that alleyway – his own words.”