Jackson, Mich. (WKHM) — A Jackson County jury will decide if a 22-year-old man accused of murder acted in self-defense.
Joseph O’Rourke is charged with fatally shooting Emarion Flowers on May 16. At a preliminary hearing this week, Judge Allison Bates said there’s no doubt O’Rourke pulled the trigger. He admitted it, but it’s up to a jury to decide whether it was self-defense.
Witness Ricky Patterson testified Flowers was talking to someone in a car when shots rang out. He said he never saw a weapon.
Jackson Police say O’Rourke told them he had a long-standing issue with Flowers and invited him over to talk. He claimed he saw Flowers reach for a gun before he opened fire.
Flowers was shot five times and later died at Henry Ford Jackson Hospital. His mother said her son was killed on her birthday — and she doesn’t believe it was self-defense.
O’Rourke is being held without bond.
