Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
MEDFORD, Ore. — A California man who shot and killed another man during an exchange outside a west Medford home in December will not face charges, the Jackson County District Attorney's office announced on Wednesday night.
36-year-old DeAngelo McCauley acted in self-defense when he shot and killed 31-year-old Dominique Brown during the December 11 confrontation on Belmont Street, the DA's office determined.
"In any criminal prosecution, when self-defense is raised as a defense, the state is required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that self-defense does not apply," the DA's office said. "Due to the factual circumstances of this incident, the evidence supports only that Mr. McCauley was justified to use deadly physical force, as he was not the initial aggressor and he reasonably believed Mr. Brown was about to use deadly physical force upon him."
According to a DA's office narrative compiled from the police investigation, McCauley and Brown were acquaintances who had spent time in one another's company the night before.
The Belmont street address is a duplex, and McCauley was up from California to visit a family member who lived on one side of the complex. A woman named Tina Zarate lived on the other side.
"In the time she had lived next door, Ms. Zarate and her daughter, Jenisa Cruz, had become friends with Mr. McCauley and his family," the DA's office said. "Ms. Cruz had started dating Mr. Brown approximately five months prior to this incident."
Zarate, Cruz, Brown, McCauley and some of his family members had gone out to a bar in downtown Medford on the night of December 10. At the time, witnesses said there were no signs of conflict between Brown and McCauley. While the latter admitted to having a few drinks, the DA's office concluded there was no evidence that he was drunk when the shooting happened.
The conflict initially came in between Brown and Cruz, who left the group when they got into an argument. McCauley said he remembered Brown grabbing a bag from Cruz during the argument, walking away from her. Neither of them rejoined the group that night, and everyone else eventually returned home.
The bag that McCauley said Brown had grabbed would become central to the events that followed.
According to the DA's office, Brown showed up at Zarate's door at about 4:30 a.m. and began ringing the doorbell. Brown "appeared intoxicated" on Ring doorbell camera footage.
Zarate did not wake up to Brown at the door, but she was awakened later by a call from Cruz. Zarate had taken her keys earlier in the night to stop her from driving drunk, and Cruz wanted them back.
"Ms. Cruz explained she needed her car keys because Mr. Brown was missing a bag with approximately $4,000 inside, and he suspected the bag was in her vehicle," the DA's office said.
The calls from Cruz to Zarate continued, and the situation outside apparently continued to deteriorate — Brown reportedly broke into the car to find his bag, but came up empty-handed. He could allegedly be heard yelling that Zarate had stolen the bag, saying it was "the kind of thing people get killed over."
"Ms. Zarate also heard Mr. Brown say that he would wait outside her house," the DA's office said. "Ms. Cruz later described to investigators Mr. Brown’s behavior during this time, stating he was going 'crazy' about the missing bag, and it was a new side to him that she had not previously seen during their relationship."
Zarate later left the keys outside in an effort to defuse the situation. It was around this time that McCauley woke up to the noise outside. He checked on Zarate, who told him what had been going on, including Brown's alleged threats.
"After hearing that, Mr. McCauley became concerned that the noise he heard was possibly Mr. Brown hitting and damaging his vehicle, so he walked over to end of the driveway where it was parked to inspect it," the DA's office said. "As he was standing at the back of his vehicle, he noticed a vehicle approaching on Belmont Street without its headlights on. It was still dark out at this time. Mr. McCauley observed the vehicle stop and Mr. Brown get out and walk over to him. The situation then quickly deteriorated."
Brown allegedly closed with McCauley quickly, "getting into his face" while keeping one hand in his own jacket pocket. Brown started accusing McCauley of stealing the missing bag.
The DA's office indicated that McCauley pointed his gun first, putting the barrel into Brown's chest. He reported using his other hand to check Brown's jacket pocket, feeling "what he thought to be a firearm inside."
"Mr. McCauley said he then tried to deescalate the situation by trying to reason with Mr. Brown, telling him he did not have the missing bag, and in fact, he had seen Mr. Brown take a bag from Ms. Cruz earlier in the night and walk off with it," the DA's office said. "He described the bag to Mr. Brown. However, it was to no avail, as Mr. Brown concluded that because Mr. McCauley knew what the bag looked like it meant that he had indeed stolen it."
At this point, the DA's office said, Brown pulled a revolver from his jacket pocket and pointed it at McCauley, reportedly saying "You know what time it is."
McCauley said he fired first, but both men got shots off. Brown fired a total of three times to McCauley's nine, as the latter man backed into the street to get more space.
Four of McCauley's shots hit Brown, fatally wounding him. McCauley was unharmed.
Zarate corroborated the details of McCauley's story, saying that Brown had approached aggressively, yelling about his bag, and pointed what appeared to be a gun at McCauley just before the shooting started. She believed that Brown had been the first to fire.
"Surveillance video obtained from a nearby residence did not clearly show the interaction between the two men due to lighting conditions and distance – but it nonetheless further corroborated some details, including that Mr. Brown immediately approached Mr. McCauley after exiting his vehicle and got very close to him moments before the shooting," the DA's office said.
It was just before 7 a.m. when officers from Medford Police were dispatched to reports of the shooting. Despite attempted life-saving measures, Brown died at the scene within minutes. McCauley approached the officers and told them that he was the shooter, complying with the investigation.
McCauley had a valid California concealed carry permit and no arrest history, the DA's office said. Brown had multiple prior arrests in California, including charges for assault with a deadly weapon and for shooting at an inhabited dwelling or occupied car.
"Mr. McCauley stated he ultimately believed his use of deadly physical force against Mr. Brown was necessary to protect his life and possibly the lives of others at the duplex on this night," the DA's office concluded. "Ms. Zarate stated she also believed Mr. McCauley might have saved her life in being there when Mr. Brown arrived, as she believed that Mr. Brown was there to kill her. Ms. Cruz described Mr. McCauley as a family friend and that she knew him as a 'protector' type.
"There is no evidence that Mr. McCauley or any member of the group that night stole the missing bag. Rather, the evidence suggests that this was an unfortunate misunderstanding by Mr. Brown."