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SOUTH SALT LAKE — A father and his adult son are facing criminal charges in the shooting death of a teenage boy in their home last week.
Anthony Raymond Woodrow Jr., 18, was charged Monday in 3rd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony, in the death of his friend, 17-year-old Ezzaldeen Hussein. He was also charged with four counts of discharge of a firearm, one first-degree felony and three second-degree felonies; and possession of a gun by a restricted person, a third-degree felony.
Anthony Raymond Woodrow, 47, his father, was charged with two counts of obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony, and possession of a gun by a restricted person, a third-degree felony.
The shooting death occurred March 1 in the Woodrow home at 457 Woodland Ave. Hussein and Woodrow Jr. had been friends for several years but got into a fight that day through text messaging, according to police.
"I shot my friend. ... He was coming at me bro," the younger Woodrow uttered as he was being taken into custody, according to charging documents. "I was really scared that I had to shoot."
Woodrow Jr. made other statements such as, "Bro, I shot my … friend bro. ... Why couldn't I just fight like a normal … person? I had to shoot bro. I couldn't just fight? … He was coming at me, just like, 'Bro let's fight,'" and, "I really did that bro, and it's going to ruin the rest of my life," according to the charges.
Earlier the day, Woodrow Jr. and Hussein had been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana together, according to the charges. After Hussein left, he texted Woodrow Jr. saying that his mother needed to "pipe down" about lecturing them about drinking and driving.
"The text conversation continued to keep 'sparking' and Ezzaldeen said he would pull up and they were going to have a problem," the charges state.
Police say they found surveillance cameras throughout the house and reviewed video of the fatal confrontation. In one video, Hussein is heard knocking hard on the door and the mother goes to answer it with a bat in her hands.
The father and son both walked into the living room. The father was holding a gun in his right hand and the son was "holding his rear right pants pocket. (The father) points the gun at the door. Anthony Jr. tells him 'No,' saying 'You could shoot,'" the charges state.
In another video, Woodrow Jr. is heard saying that if Hussein hurts his mother, "he is dead," according to the charges.
"Anthony Jr. removes a revolver from his rear right pants pocket and holds the gun in his right hand. They talk about having the safety off and (the father) tells Anthony Jr. to keep his finger off the trigger," the charges state. "Anthony Jr. says that mom must have calmed Ezzaldeen down. (The father) then says not to pull the trigger unless you need to. Anthony Jr. replies, 'Yes sir, only if my life is in danger.' (The father) then says, 'It sounds like your life is not in danger.'"
The situation appears to calm down and Hussein is allowed into the house. In another video however, the wife seems to become annoyed when she sees her husband has his gun out, according to the charges.
"Ezzaldeen then says 'cool' and starts walking toward the front door," the charges say. But the mother tries to prevent the victim from leaving and words are exchanged. At that point, tempers flare up again.
"Anthony Jr. says, 'You are going to get shot bro,' and he steps into the living room with nothing in his hands. Ezzaldeen says, 'Oh yeah' and advances toward Anthony Jr. (The mother) yells that no one is going to get shot. Anthony Jr. then pulls a gun from his pocket and fires one shot at Ezzaldeen, causing him to hunch over and turn his back toward Anthony Jr. (He) then fires four more shots toward Ezzaldeen's back. Ezzaldeen falls to the kitchen floor and pleads for help," according to the court documents.
Police say the father lied several times to authorities and changed his story.
"(Anthony Jr.) admitted he was afraid to get beat up by the victim, and stated he was trying to de-escalate the situation, but then told the victim they had guns. (Anthony Jr.) was told to put the gun away and he didn't. (He) went from what would have been a fistfight to an extreme level with pulling a gun from his pocket and firing at the victim who was unarmed," prosecutors say in the charges.
