Teen Fatally Shot After Knocking On The Wrong Apartment Door: Police

A Georgia man is facing murder charges for allegedly shooting a 19-year-old after the teenager mistakenly knocked on the front door of the man’s apartment while looking for his girlfriend.

Darryl Bynes, 32, was arrested Friday after he allegedly fired at the teen from his Atlanta apartment’s balcony during a confrontation just after midnight, authorities said.

“A verbal exchange ensued between the two parties and at some point, the resident produced a handgun and shot the victim,” the Atlanta Police Department said in a release.

The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office identified the victim to HuffPost as Omarion Banks.

Banks’ girlfriend, Zsakeria Mathis, said he wasn’t yet familiar with the apartment complex’s layout as they both just recently moved in. She said he called her to meet her at their front door. When she didn’t hear a knock, she said she walked out onto her front porch and then heard the ensuing violence.

“I just hear faint voices and a gunshot, and then I hear him yell,” Mathis told Atlanta station WSB-TV . “And I heard all the fear in his voice and he was just, ‘I’m sorry! I’m at the wrong door!’ The man was like, ‘No, you’re not at the wrong door!’ And he shot two more times and then it was silent.”

Mathis said she ran downstairs and over to where Banks was lying, bleeding and in obvious pain.

Another witness gave a similar description to station KTRK .

“He pleaded for his life. He was like, ‘Hold on, I am sorry, I am sorry’ and the dude shot him,” the man told the station.

He was pronounced dead at the scene having suffered a gunshot wound to his neck. Bynes was arrested at the scene and booked into the Fulton County jail, according to police.

Bynes had been arrested three previous times, The Associated Press reported citing jail records.

His family told WSB-TV that he should not be charged with murder.

“He is an innocent father. He has five kids. He was protecting his family. His truck was stolen earlier this week, right now, he’s just trying to protect his family,” said his cousin, Makayla Johnson.

Late last year a retired firefighter in Michigan was sentenced to 10 years in prison after shooting at a teenager who knocked at his home for directions. That teenager was not injured.