People v. Du

Store owner Du (defendant), working in place of her recently threatened son, accused 15-year-old Latasha Harlins of shoplifting orange juice; after Harlins struck Du twice and Du unsuccessfully threw a stool at her, Harlins placed the juice on the counter and turned to leave, but Du grabbed a modified, unusually sensitive-triggered gun and shot Harlins fatally in the back of the head. A jury convicted Du of voluntary manslaughter, and a pre-sentencing probation report found her unlikely to reoffend and not a violent person; the judge initially imposed ten years but then considered reducing the sentence to probation.