Grand jury declines to indict motorist who shot and killed Elyria man in March

No criminal charges will be filed against a motorist who shot and killed another man during an early-morning encounter on Elyria's south side in March. A Lorain County grand jury has decided there was not enough evidence to criminally charge the man who shot and killed Nicholas Burkholder, 25, of Elyria at 16th Street and Middle Avenue three months ago. Lorain County Prosecutor Tony Cillo said that in this case, the shooter acted in self-defense. "It was presented with all applicable law and the decision was made by the grand jury," he said. Cillo said Ohio law offers the same legal protections when defending yourself whether you're in your house or vehicle: You don't have a "duty to retreat" in either case. Grand jury testimony is a secret process. Police have not released the name of the man who shot Burkholder, identifying him only by his age, 54. "The Elyria Police Department investigated the circumstances surrounding the death of Nicholas Burkholder and presented the facts and evidence to the Lorain County grand jury for review. After considering the evidence, the grand jury declined to issue an indictment," Elyria Police Chief James Welsh said. "Our thoughts remain with Mr. Burkholder's family as they continue to cope with this loss. Out of respect for the judicial process and the individuals involved, I have no further comment." The Chronicle-Telegram requested the complete Elyria Police Department report on the March 15 shooting. Burkholder's mother Andrea Souders said she was devastated by the grand jury's decision. "I'm just ... literally outraged right now," Souders said, including at the justice system. With no charges, no trial and no public review of the evidence, she said Burkholder's family is now left with more questions than answers. "It's like learning all over again that he's gone," Souders said. What is known is that the shooter told Elyria police his truck broke down near the intersection of 16th Street and Middle Avenue sometime before 3 a.m. March 15. The man told police that as he sat there, a white SUV pulled up. Burkholder got out and approached with something in his hand and opened the truck's passenger-side door. Burkholder's family and friends said he was just trying to help. The man told police he felt threatened. Cillo said the man told authorities he tried to get away from Burkholder and hurt himself as he did. The man said Burkholder told him: "Let me see the gun." The man "took that to mean (Burkholder) wanted the gun," Cillo said. Burkholder turned his back but started throwing things at the man as he sat in his truck, including a bowl of cereal, the prosecutor said. That's when the motorist fired the fatal shot. A bullet hit Burkholder in the back, police and the Lorain County Coroner's Office said. He got back in the SUV and was driven to University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center where he died, three days short of his 26th birthday. Burkholder's friends and family, including witnesses that night, dispute the shooter's account. Burkholder's mother said she was told her son said, "Oh my God, he's got a gun!" before turning his back on the truck and and trying to leave. That's when he was shot, she said she was told. Souders said she also was told the bowl of cereal "was on the ground," not in the truck and that she didn't know if her son threw it or dropped it. She said she was told the case couldn't be sent back to the grand jury without new evidence, and asked anyone living near the crime scene with a doorbell or surveillance camera to come forward if they haven't already. "Anybody that is an American citizen should be outraged about someone shooting someone in the back," Souders said, but the man who shot and killed her son "gets to walk." "I don't know anything else except my son is gone," she said. "I guess I won't understand it." Souders said she won't get to see justice and that her grandson will grow up without his father because of what she said was "bad judgment" by both the shooter and her son, whom she said had been drinking that night. In an additional statement she provided to the Chronicle, Souders wrote that her son "was more than the worst mistake he ever made and more than any headline that may have been written about him. "He was a father, a son, a brother, a friend, and a man who was deeply loved. He mattered. His life mattered," she wrote. Everyone in the community should be outraged, and something should be done about Ohio's self-defense laws, Souders said. She said she now rarely leaves her house, fearing that she'll run into the man who shot and killed her son and won't know it. "I'm sentenced to grief. That's my life sentence," Souders said. "It's rocked my faith in the justice system. How would you feel if the man who shot your son, you don't know if you're next to him at a gas station or at the grocery store, or at a restaurant? Would you go out? I can't seem to bring myself to do it." Reporter Owen MacMillan contributed to this story. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.