Posted: Wednesday, Apr. 11, 2012
Modified: Thursday, Apr. 12, 2012 More Information
Former wife charged in fatal stabbing


Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Rodney Monroe said Wednesday that a shooting involving a man who killed a would-be burglar who was kicking down his girlfriend�s apartment door was �clearly a case of self-defense.�
It took detectives and prosecutors a matter of hours to determine that the shooting Tuesday in a quiet east Charlotte neighborhood was within the boundaries of the law.
�The (shooter) was defending himself and his property from a criminal act,� Monroe told the Observer. �It was clear he was protecting himself.�
Self-defense laws have come under scrutiny in recent months after the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, 17, in Florida by an armed neighborhood watch volunteer.
North Carolina�s �castle doctrine� law, enacted last year, expands the rights of residents to use deadly force to protect themselves if they fear for their lives.
The �castle doctrine� provides protection from criminal and civil penalties for those who use guns to defend themselves in their homes, cars and workplaces. The law also expands the number of places where someone with a concealed-handgun permit may carry their firearms, including state parks and rest areas.
Mecklenburg District Attorney Andrew Murray has said the law covers anyone �who uses deadly force to legitimately protect themselves from harm or death.� However, if the evidence shows excessive force was used, he said, prosecutors could indict the shooter for murder.
�We have to evaluate the situation � the facts � to determine if the person used deadly force because they had a real fear of bodily harm or death,� he told the Observer recently. �We�ve got to look at the evidence and whether the force used was necessary given the situation.�
In the east Charlotte case, the shooter was alone in his girlfriend�s home on Rolling Hill Road at the time of the shooting.
Homicide detectives say the shooter had seen a car in the driveway and spotted a person walking to the back of the house. A short time later, he heard someone trying to kick in the rear door.
The man yelled that he was at home, but the intruder continued to kick at the door. At that point, the man inside fired one shot through the back door, police say, striking Anthony Michael Aykroid, 23. Aykroid was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said Aykroid�s girlfriend, Krystina Michelle Misskelley, 25, told investigators she drove Aykroid to the home, where the couple intended to steal property. She was waiting outside with the car running as Aykroid was shot, according to police. Misskelley was charged with attempted breaking and entering and was being held in the Mecklenburg jail in lieu of $15,000 bail. In 2005, Misskelley was found guilty of possession of drug paraphernalia.
Police did not release the identity of the shooter, but NewsChannel 36, the Observer�s news partner, cited neighbors who identified him as Brad Griffith. They said he was a military veteran who recently returned from Iraq. According to the State Bureau of Investigation, Griffith was issued a concealed-weapons permit Sept. 15.
A woman who answered the phone at a number listed for Griffith said he wasn�t available, then hung up.
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