Mother Calls for Justice After Son's Shooting, Police Say Likely Case of Self-Defense

Saginaw Police are investigating a shooting that left a 21-year-old man dead Monday morning.

It happened in the 600 block of Babbling Brook Drive where a homeowner told them a young man he didn’t know was banging on his door around 4:00 a.m.

He told police he asked the man to leave, which he began to do. But then, the homeowner said he turned around and rushed towards him.

The homeowner fired multiple times, leaving Andrew Russell dead.

Now, as Russell’s family prepares to bury him, they’re calling for criminal charges in the case, saying he was in a state of confusion following an epileptic seizure at the time of the shooting.

“Andrew’s never, ever been a violent person, ever. He’s never ever. He’s just not that way. He’s just a good-natured, good soul,” said his mother Cynthia Williams.

When asked about her son, Williams said Russell could light up the room.

She said he excelled in school and on the football field until he was diagnosed with epilepsy three years ago.

"He had his first really bad seizure his first day of school his senior year. And since then, we've had so many. It's been so many seizures,” said Williams.

The most recent one came just over a week ago.

Williams said Saginaw paramedics transported Russell to the hospital.

When he was released Sunday, she said he was in a postictal state, a period of confusion following a seizure that can last anywhere from hours to days.

"He was always disoriented, quiet, very slow, very sluggish,” said Williams.

That’s why she believes he wound up a half block from home in the early hours Monday morning on Babbling Brook Drive where he died in a stranger's front yard.

"I was always afraid that he would die. I thought it would be from a seizure. I thought he would die from that. I never never thought this would happen. It shouldn't have happened,” she said.

Now, she’s calling for justice, pushing to see the man who killed her son charged.

"To me, it was just murder,” said Williams.

But Saginaw assistant police chief Russell Ragsdale said in a case where a homeowner felt threatened on his own property, it's unlikely Russell’s medical condition will come into play.

“It is something we're looking at, but it doesn't play a really strong role in the investigation. What we have to look at is the events that unfolded at the time that the force was used,” said Ragsdale.

That's up to a grand jury to decide.

Williams will wait. And while she does, she'll spread the word about epilepsy in hopes of preventing another loss.

Thursday night, loved ones will gather at Old School in Weatherford at 8 p.m. to raise money for Russell’s funeral expenses and CURE Epilepsy.

Friday, there will be a candlelight vigil at Fort Worth’s Saint Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church at 7:30 p.m.

The family’s also raising money through a GoFundMe page.