Man Claims Self-Defense, Charged With Murder

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Bartholomew Roberts

Moderator
Cortez Waller of Conway, Arkansas shot Chris Childress in front of his girlfriend and children outside of a police station in Conway in 2010. The entire shooting was captured on video.

Based on several different news reports both after the shooting and during the trial, Waller had been sleeping with Childress's girlfriend and the mother of his 3 children. Childress had accused Waller of following the girlfriend and had threatened Waller on several occasions.

In the video, you can see Waller pulling up to the police station as Childress boxes him in with a truck and jumps out of the truck and comes running at Waller who has exited his vehicle. Waller shoots Childress multiple times with a .45. Waller then enters the police station and attempts to find someone at the lobby. After not finding anyone, he begins to leave and is arrested by two officers. He was subsequently charged with murder and claimed self-defense during his trial. After nine hours of deliberation, a jury acquitted Waller on self-defense grounds.

I thought this was worth talking about in Tactics and Training because we have both a video of the initial shooting and the news reports both immediately after the shooting and throughout the trial. As a result, we have a great deal of detail we don't normally have in these cases. I also thought it was a good case to discuss because either one of the men had the oppotunity to avoid this situation by using better tactics. If you are Waller, how do you avoid shooting a guy who may be an actual threat to you; but who is arguably provoked by your behavior? If you are Childress, how do you deal with this threat, without putting you and your family in danger?
 
DGU Rule #1 Don't get involved in some womans messed up drama filled life. Sounds like the woman may have been the center of the problems revolving around this whole thing. Ask any cop, domestic situations are the most dangerous situations they respond to on a day per day basis.


Mr. Waller was cut off from his only possible means of escape, driving off or running into the police station when Childress rushed him. I don't know what Childress expected to happen but I probably would have done the same in the situation. The moral of this story? Keep your life simple and stay away from women who love causing drama.
 
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I'm struck by a couple things in the video. The police really man-handled the shooter during the arrest. Not that I probably wouldn't do the same as a cop, but it just goes to show that you should probably expect a few knees in the back and maybe being shoved against a wall if you are involved in a shooting.

Second, it feels like forever before someone finally gets around to providing medical treatment to the guy that was shot. An interesting look at a real life shooting.
 
I concur. Few things can screw up your life quicker than a relationship with a drama queen. Or, as a T-shirt I saw at the last gun show read: "No matter how good she looks, never forget that somewhere out there is a guy who's tired of her B.S.!"
 
That. The man walked into the police station to give himself in! I find such violent arrest totally uncalled for.
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To be fair to the police, they can't read the man's mind to know WHY he is in the police station. All they know is that he shot a man multiple times in the parking lot and is now coming into the police station. People have walked into police stations and started shooting in the past, so I can understand why they might be concerned and aggressive. The outcome could certainly have been a lot worse for Waller than a few scrapes in that scenario.
 
Well, to be honest at that moment in time it appeared that Waller did what he had to do to protect himself. He apparently was being pursued and actually drove to a Police Station where he was confronted. So, from a purely tactical standpoint I am not sure what he could have done differently. Maybe you could make the argument that he should have stayed in the car and driven away, but where was he going to go after all he was already at the Police station. I suppose he could have stayed in the car and called 911 and waited for help.

While his behavior most likely contributed to the situation it was his legal right to protect himself. We can argue all day about moral issues, but that is not what the judicial system is here for.
 
For Childress

If there was a doubt about whether or not his wife was sleeping with this guy I think a private detective to determine the facts would have been better than taking a bullet.

If his wife wasn't sleeping with Waller and was being harrassed by him, a restraining order would have been better than taking a bullet.

If his wife was sleeping with Waller a divorce lawyer would have been better than taking a bullet.

And the other moral of this story is never bring a fist to a gun fight.

For Waller:

Don't get involved in some womans 'messed' up drama filled life
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I can't say that any of the three principals in this drama - the shooter, the dead guy, or the woman - are gems. But in the video, Childress appears to be the aggressor. Regardless of what went on in the days or weeks before, Waller drove up to a police station (perhaps to get help because of Childress's pursuit?) and Childress blocked in his car with his own and rushed him. The fact that it all happened in front of his children was the choice of Childress, not Waller.

There are a lot of questions that could still be asked after reading the provided news reports, like whether Waller made any previous threats towards Childress during their love-triangle, but the video speaks loudly of self defense in the context of those few minutes surrounding the shooting itself. In those few minutes of going to the police station, defending against an aggressor, and immediately turning himself in, I see nothing to fault Waller for.

As for the comments about the police roughing Waller up, I have to say I didn't see anything objectionable. We should all expect to be proned out and cuffed if we have to shoot; the police need to secure everything until they can figure out what is what and who is whom. And perhaps we should also take this as a reminder that even if our justifiable action is caught on video, we might yet go all the way to a trial.
 
If the dude didn't display a weapon then the killer murdered someone because he was afraid of an ass whooping. I didn't see or hear all of the evidence, but when is it acceptable to gun someone down on a city street? To me it looked like a coward committed murder. Besides, screwing around with someone's woman is grounds for an ass whooping. Right?
 
waller saw childress getting out of the car and approaching him and he got out of his car before he even put it in park and shot childress within point blank range waller should be charged with murder
 
Wow, what a mess. If Childress had a weapon (the responses indcate maybe a knife was involved?), it was pretty clearly self defense. Chases him in the van, cuts him off and rushes at him?? But if there was no weapon??? That was a pretty fast reaction - maybe he was already ready? Have to wonder.

Bad decisions by the deceased, even without a weapon you can't let anger get the better of you becasue you never know. But for the shooter, I'd have stayed in the car and locked the doors and tried to avoid the confrontation, have the gun ready but just not get out. I didn't see as to why they were both rushing to the police station - did the guy already threaten him once and the shooter went there for protection??? Had he been chasing him all over town?

What really gets to me is not the shooting itself but the family response to the father lying there. Really sad.

As to the police response, you bet they will throw you down and ask questions afterwards. I deal with juveniles, mostly young women, and if they feel they are armed they would get the same treatment.
 
I dug around in the Faulkner County docket on this case. Unfortunately, the pleadings don't contain a lot of factual information that would be useful in the T&T context. What I can tell you is: (1) the defense filed motions to suppress and in limine; and (2) at the close of the case, the defense filed a Motion to have the defendant's pistol returned to him. For some reason, I can download some of the orders in the case, but I cannot open them once downloaded. As an interesting aside, the pistol was a Hi-point.
 
waller saw childress getting out of the car and approaching him and he got out of his car before he even put it in park and shot childress within point blank range waller should be charged with murder
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He was charged with murder and acquitted. What do you think Waller should have done differently? Should he have stayed in his car as has been suggested?

I wonder how Waller was carrying his firearm. Was he using a holster? Was it in the console? Could he have drawn while staying seated in his car?
 
waller saw childress getting out of the car and approaching him and he got out of his car before he even put it in park and shot childress within point blank range waller should be charged with murder
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I don't think you understand. He was charged with murder and acquitted because he shot in self defense against Childress.

I can see this having gone either way. On one hand you have Childress chasing down Waller who fled to the police station, boxed him in, charged him and Waller could definitely be in fear for his life.

I can also see the argument that force, but not lethal force would have been warranted as Childress apparently had no weapons and didn't attempt to use his vehicle as a weapon.

We don't hear the words that were exchanged, but apparently Waller's team was able to present a clear enough case of Waller being in fear for his life. I don't have a problem with the verdict given what was on the videos.

If you are Childress, how do you deal with this threat, without putting you and your family in danger?
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You are kidding about this question, right? It is rhetorical? You don't chase down people with your car in anger and have your family inside.
 
still even though Childress boxed Waller in and approached in a threatening manner he was still unarmed...that doesn't give Waller the right to kill a defenseless man that just proves hes a coward for screwing around with another mans wife and afraid to take an a** woopin like a man instead he shoots him and gets away with murder by pleading self defense just because someone chases you and blocks you in and comes charging at you doesn't mean you shoot and kill them then plead in self defense
 
Double Naught Spy said:
You are kidding about this question, right? It is rhetorical? You don't chase down people with your car in anger and have your family inside.
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Yes, that's a given. I was thinking more about how to deal with the alleged stalking behavior by Waller in a way that doesn't give said stalker the opportunity to shoot you multiple times. A restraining order wouldn't do much to stop it; but it would have been a good first step.

GlockedNLoaded32 said:
still even though Childress boxed Waller in and approached in a threatening manner he was still unarmed...that doesn't give Waller the right to kill a defenseless man that just proves hes a coward for screwing around with another mans wife and afraid to take an a** woopin like a man instead he shoots him and gets away with murder by pleading self defense just because someone chases you and blocks you in and comes charging at you doesn't mean you shoot and kill them then plead in self defense
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Typically, the standard is that you can use deadly force in self-defense if a reasonable person would be in immediate fear of death or serious injury in that situation.

A grown man can certainly cause death or serious injury, even if unarmed. And even if Waller had been willing to take the chance that Childress would be satisfied with a "light" beating, he may not have wanted to take the chance Childress would gain control of his .45 Hi-Point in that highly emotional state. Apparently Waller's attorney was able to make that case to the jury. Definitely something to think about next time you decide some other citizen needs "an a** woopin."
 
I do see you point but from my stand point if i was in wallers situation i would not shoot an unarmed man no matter how agressive childress was... I guess that's just because im a decent size guy who has self defense training and a much more leveled head...but yes waller could have gone another route before it got to that point he could have called 911 and made a report that childress was following him and was threatening him and go from there or place a restraining order against him... but to shoot an unarmed man in the street in front of his kids ans girlfriend is just morally wrong to me...
 
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