Fox 7 Austin: Texas Homeowner Defends Family from Machete Wielding Man with Firearm

Reporter (voice-over): “In video from Wednesday around 5:00 P.M., you see a man with a machete and a dog approaching a home in Liberty Hill near Bear Creek. He appears to pass out. This is when homeowner Darryl Stevens was looking at the backyard with a contractor and they noticed the man.”

Stevens: “At that moment, you know, I obviously freaked out. I have two young children here in the house and just went into, like, complete fight-or-flight mode.”

Reporter (voice-over): “The man gets up, comes up the stairs, pulls on the door...”

Stevens: “I start running through the house. I lock every door as fast as possible, run upstairs. Luckily, I had a firearm here. So I grabbed my 9-millimeter, unlocked it, ran down as fast as possible.”

Reporter (voice-over): “The suspect climbs the fence and was on the upper deck.”

Stevens: “I came up here with my gun and he was standing right here in front of this couch, this couch and back couch with a machete. That’s when I came out like this. I told him he’s gotta leave or he’s going to lose his life, you know. And luckily, after I did that, he dropped to the machete.”

Reporter (voice-over): “On video, you can see the intruder climbing back down and a gun pointing at him as he walks away.”

Stevens: “I just had to protect my family and that’s what I did. And luckily, I didn’t have to discharge my firearm.”

Reporter (voice-over): “Stevens’ wife had called 911 in the meantime and deputies arrested 43-year-old Jerry Escamilla. He is charged with criminal trespassing and failure to identify.”

Stevens: “It’s just not something you expect to happen in the Liberty Hill, in the country. We’re way out in the country, we’re in the very back of this new, nice neighborhood, and you’re just like — you know, we moved out here, we moved further out of the city to feel safe.”

Reporter (voice-over): “In Texas, a homeowner has the right to use deadly force to defend themselves under the stand-your-ground law.”

UNKNOWN PERSON: “If someone is trying to unlawfully enter and is is being forceful, you have a right to use deadly force to protect your home, your car and your place of employment in those situations. You don’t have to retreat. You have a right to defend yourself.”

Reporter (voice-over): “Stevens and his family still shaken up and plan to up security.”

Stevens: “We feel violated, like, as a family. Like, we feel like our sense of safety and our safe place, which is our house, has been taken from us. And — yeah, I’m almost getting emotional even saying that. It’s just — it’s not fair.”