SAN ANTONIO – A jury on Thursday found a man not guilty in the 2021 fatal shooting of another man.
Roger McCracken’s attorneys argued that their client shot Ronnie Riddle, 34, on Sept. 11, 2021, in self-defense.
“Today, we got our not guilty. Roger McCracken is acquitted because he did the right thing in protecting his family,” said Joseph Hoelscher, McCracken’s defense attorney.
In closing arguments, prosecutors argued that McCracken had no right to take a life into his own hands.
“We cannot, in our community, just kill people because we feel that they are bad people,” said prosecutor Neil Cordero. “We cannot make that decision ourselves. We cannot use the law as a sword and place it on people.”
The shooting happened outside an apartment complex on the Southeast Side.
Hoelscher argued that McCracken made a split-second decision.
“He thought his family might be murdered,” he said.
During the trial, jurors heard from witnesses, including a man who testified that he saw the entire shooting.
Jurors also witnessed tense moments between the attorneys arguing their cases. They deliberated for six hours before finding McCracken not guilty of murder on Thursday.
Riddle’s wife, Wendy, told KSAT by phone, she and her family are devastated and heartbroken, and hearing the verdict was like having Ronnie killed all over again.