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James Rayl: Doorbell video shows man, 22, shot and killed by ex-GF's father while trying to break in to home

Rayl continued to break open the door even after being told by the ex-girlfriend's family to go away

Warning: This article contains disturbing footage that could be traumatic for some readers. Discretion is advised.

SIDNEY, OHIO: Gruesome video footage shows the moment a protective Sidney, Ohio father guns down his daughter's ex-boyfriend as the man tries to break into the family's home. It was nearly a month ago when James Rayl, 22, tried to shoulder his way through the front door of his former love Allyson Duckro who lived at 2907 N Kuther Road. The Ring camera footage recorded on July 31, at 11 am shows the man, wearing a baseball cap, blue hoodie, grey T-shirt, and shorts as he stands in front of the door, ringing the bell repeatedly. 

Rayl folds his hands behind his back and waits as minutes go by. He continued to open the door even after being told by the family inside to go away. Rayl opens the screen door and tries the handle, then throws the weight of his body against the door. The voice heard in the recording on the other side is Mitchell Duckro, Allyson's father, who warns Rayl to stop. "I've got a gun," he says, but the jilted beau keeps on banging away at the door. Defiant Rayl then appears to try to break down the wooden front door by slamming his shoulder against it, and opening the door a few inches. 

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That's when the dad lets loose with three rounds hitting Rayl in the left shoulder, right shoulder and back. Rayl flinches as he's hit, and makes his way down the porch steps and walks a short distance before collapsing in the middle of a sun-dappled pathway. Several minutes later, a neighbor Jeffery Hereford appears in the frame walking across the Duckro's front lawn, saying "Don't shoot me." 

The 22-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene by first responders. An autopsy later found that Rayl sustained two gunshot wounds to the shoulders and a fatal wound to the back, according to a joint press release from the county prosecutor and the local sheriff, as cited by Sidney Daily News. Hereford doesn't agree with the grand jury's decision not to charge Mitchell Duckro. "If he entered the house, why did he shoot through the door," Hereford says. 

In a 911 audio recording from the incident, which has been obtained by WHIO-TV 7, a woman who described the intruder as her ex-boyfriend is heard telling her father that Rayl is trying to break down the door. “Dad, is he trying to kill me?” the woman could be heard saying. After Duckro shoots at Rayl, his daughter is heard telling him, “Dad, there’s nothing you could have done. You saved my life,” according to the station.

The video footage, the 911 call, the voicemail, and other evidence were presented to a Shelby County grand jury, which voted 8 to 1 not to indict Mitchell Duckro based on Ohio's 'Stand Your Ground' and 'Castel Doctrine' laws that allow homeowners to use lethal force when threatened. Rayl's family doesn't agree with the decision not to prosecute and has reacted with outrage to the news that Duckro will not be held accountable for the shooting and launched a Facebook page demanding justice. His sister, Jessica Marie Colbert, says that her brother had no malice intended that day and should not have been killed. "Mitch Duckro shot him in the back and killed him,' she wrote on Facebook. 'I hope your days are more miserable than they've ever been. You're a disgusting excuse of a human being along with your daughter."