From [HERE] A white man, Phillip Walker Sailors, 69, has been charged with malice murder in the killing of Rodrigo Abad Diaz, a 22-year-old Cuban immigrant who mistakenly pulled into his driveway due to faulty GPS directions. Phillips Sailors’ lawyers claim their client shot the young man because he felt threatened. A passenger in the car, Angie Rebolledo said that he was trying to drive away after he noticed Sailors.

The couple, accompanied by two other friends, had pulled into Sailors’ driveway by mistake, thinking it was the home of another friend. The group had planned to go ice skating. She was sitting next to her boyfriend in the front seat when he was struck in the side of the head. After he shot Diaz, the 69-year-old white man pointed the gun at her. As she tended to Diaz, she said Sailors showed no remorse and offered no assistance.

According to ColorLines, Phillips Sailors’ lawyers may be gearing up to use Georgia’s “stand your ground law” as part of their defense.  Sailors’ friends and family said that the retired BellSouth employee is a dedicated volunteer at his church and has been on mission trips to Panama and other Latin American countries (which means he definitely, definitely is not racist - bw). 

Chris Anderson, pastor of Killian Hill Baptist Church in Lilburn, called Sailors “a good man who devoted his life to serving others, and his reputation in our community has been unblemished for over 40 years.”

Sailors and his wife, Brenda, were at their home on Hillcrest Road when they heard a “ruckus” in the driveway, said attorney Mike Puglise. A neighbor had recently been robbed and Sailors was wary when he spotted two people in his driveway getting into their car.

According to Puglise, Sailors grabbed his gun as he headed outside, firing a warning shot into the air. He said he fired at Diaz only after Diaz accelerated his car toward him.

“He thought he was going to get run down,” the lawyer said.

But the police report indicates that the vehicle was leaving Sailors’ property when Diaz was shot. Lilburn police said they found his red Mitsubishi at the end of the driveway. Diaz was slumped over the steering wheel, blood covering his face and, the incident report states, struggling to breathe.

The Colombia native who attended Gwinnett Tech and worked at his brother’s cargo shipping business was pronounced dead the following morning from a single bullet that entered the left side of his head and fragmented, causing severe brain damage.

Gwinnett District Attorney Danny Porter said he knows little about the facts of this case but said, if deadly forced is used to protect yourself or your home “there has to be some reasonable belief that you’re about to suffer death or great bodily injury to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.”

“A lot of it’s going to depend on what happened out there,” Porter said. “I know 911 was called. But I don’t know who called it, or when.”

Lilburn Police Chief Bruce Hedley said two calls were placed to 911, one from a passenger in Diaz’s car and another from a neighbor who said they heard gunshots and screams.

Hedley said claims of heavy gang activity in the area are false.

“There’s a sampling of crime in their neighborhood, but no more than anywhere else,” he said.

Sailors declined, through his attorney, to speak with police Sunday morning. Puglise dismissed suggestions by some who’ve followed the case that Diaz’s race may have been a factor.

“[This was] not a question of color, not a question of race, this is a question of a tragic event dictated by fear,” he said.

Puglise said the Sailors family is grief-stricken and is lifting the family of Diaz up in prayer.