<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">A Washington DC householder has been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of a 13-year-old child who he suspected of breaking into cars.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Jason Michael Lewis, 41, turned himself in to Washington police on Tuesday. He is accused of shooting the teenager at around 04:00 on 7 January.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to arrest documents, as he was being shot, Karon Blake shouted, "I am sorry, please don't" and "I'm a kid, I'm a kid."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Lewis is black, as was the teenager.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He is an employee with the city's Department of Parks and Recreation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Washington Post reports that he has been placed on leave from his $75,000 (£60,000) per year job.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The shooting took place in Brookland, a neighbourhood in the north-east of the city that has undergone rapid gentrification in recent years, like other parts of the US capital.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">According to an affidavit, Mr Lewis left his home with his legally owned gun after saying he heard noises and fearing that someone was trying to get inside his home.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Lewis then encountered a group of young people who were apparently trying to break into cars, Washington Metropolis Police Chief Robert Contee III said in a news conference.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Hey, what are y'all doing?" he shouted at them, according to the affidavit.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He fired once with a Smith &amp; Wesson .40-calibre handgun at the fleeing getaway vehicle, investigators say.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The affidavit adds that CCTV cameras on Mr Lewis' property recorded Karon running as Mr Lewis continued firing.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After Mr Lewis opened fire, the boy collapsed having shouted: "I'm a kid, I'm a kid."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Lewis told police that Karon ran towards him after he fired at the getaway vehicle. A witness told investigators that he "charged" at Mr Lewis.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Chief Contee said Karon could have been running towards the getaway vehicle and perhaps did not realise that Mr Lewis was the person who had just opened fire.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Lewis called police to report that he had "shot a juvenile male who ran toward him".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Police body camera footage shows that he was on the ground "performing chest compressions" in an effort to save the boy's life when officers arrived.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Karon - who attended the nearby Brookland Middle School - was pronounced dead in hospital from multiple gunshot wounds.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A lawyer for Mr Lewis said his client was "distraught" and "maintains his innocence".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"While this is certainly a tragedy, once all the facts are heard, I believe that a jury will find that there was no crime here," said lawyer Lee Smith. BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>