A drunk college kid was trying to get into a house late at night. The homeowner heard it and went outside with a gun and told the kid to leave. The kid started advancing toward the owner so the owner fired a shot into the ground as a warning. The kid still kept advancing so the owner out of fear shot the kid. People say the kid was so drunk that he was confused and went to the wrong house.

Now the family, not wanting to accept that perhaps their kid made a terrible drunken mistake, has hired an attorney that "wants answers"

quote:
Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - Attorney Todd Clemons is representing the family of Joseph Tezeno, the 21-year old who was shot and killed earlier this month, after a south Lake Charles homeowner thought he was an intruder.

Clemons tells 7News he’s committed to helping Tezeno’s family find answers and now, Clemons is asking for anyone with information to come forward.

Joseph Tezeno was shot and killed near North Lake Court Drive after he approached the wrong house near a party he was attending, where a homeowner said they believed Tezeno was an intruder.

“It was a pool party,” Clemons said. “At some point, we believe he got disoriented. We don’t think he had his eye glasses on, he wore eye glasses. He went to this house by mistake.”

Clemons said from the limited information he and the family have at this time, they believe Tezeno was only wearing a pair of swim trunks at the time of his death.

“So, if anyone sees a person with swim trunks on, you know for one, they’re not armed. Secondly, it’s very likely they’re coming from some type or going to some type of pool party, and so we feel like the fact that he was killed, just wasn’t justified,” Clemons said.

In the initial reports, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office said the homeowner did fire a warning shot before the situation escalated to Tezeno’s death.

“From my understanding, he was shot two times and I don’t think that was necessary,” Clemons said.

Clemons said he believes there were other avenues the home homeowner could have taken.

“Call the police,” Clemons said. “Let the law enforcement come out and deal with it. For you to feel threatened and you leave out of your house to confront a person, I just have a problem with that.”

Clemons explained Tezeno’s family is upset law enforcement has not released the name of the man who killed Joseph.

“We’re going to keep pressure on authorities to release the man’s name because if he did nothing wrong, there’s no need to protect him. There’s no need to shield his name,” Clemons said.

At this point, Clemons said the family is just hoping to find some answers in this tragedy.

“He was a good young man, 21-year-old young black man. He was a student at McNeese. A member of a fraternity. No criminal record whatsoever, just a good gentle soul and he didn’t deserve to die this way,” Clemons said.

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The original story from after the shooting

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Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - A resident on North Lake Court Drive off Lake Street shot and killed a 21-year-old man he believed to be a possible intruder Monday night, authorities said.

Upon investigation, authorities believe 21-year-old Joseph Tezeno was attending a party on a nearby street, became intoxicated and may have accidentally approached the wrong house.

Much of the incident was caught on home security cameras, Calcasieu Sheriff Tony Mancuso said.

Around 10:40 p.m., the homeowner was sleeping and was startled by someone at the front door trying to get in, Mancuso said. Video captured the man attempting to enter through the front door, Mancuso said.

“The homeowner eventually comes out of the house with a gun, walks around the front of the house, sees a Black, male subject in his garage/shop area, confronts (the man),” Mancuso said. “It’s obvious, you can’t hear what’s going on, but he’s telling him to get out.”

When Tezeno approached the homeowner, the homeowner fired a shot into the ground, “like a warning shot,” Mancuso said. Tezeno continued to approach the homeowner and the homeowner shot him twice, the Sheriff said.

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The kid was black and where this house is it is very likely the homeowner is white so look for things to get heated.