Texas lawmaker backs Fort Worth mother facing eviction after shooting intruder
FORT WORTH, Texas - The story of a Fort Worth woman who shot and killed someone trying to break in last month has been one of the most watched and talked about stories by FOX 4 viewers in recent memory.
The person killed outside Aleah Wallace's 8-year-old daughter’s window was a 14-year-old.
The complex told Wallace that she must move because she had a gun. Now, it has also piqued the interest of a Central Texas lawmaker.
Lawmakers from throughout the state are paying attention to Wallace’s case and her eviction.
State Representative Carrie Isaac (R-Wimberly) is asking the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs and the Texas Attorney General's Office to see what may be done.
"It made me very angry," Isaac said. "No one should be denied their Second Amendment right just because they live in public housing. It's unconstitutional."
Isaac represents the Wimberly-San Marcos area but saw FOX 4’s story on Wallace, the Fort Worth woman who in the early morning hours of Dec. 14 shot and killed someone trying to enter her apartment home. The person shot and killed was 14-year-old Devin Baker.
Fort Worth police filed a grand jury referral. The management at the federally subsidized housing Wallace lived in with her four children told her she was being evicted because she had a gun on the property, telling her that weapons were prohibited.
Featured
Can the Fort Worth woman living in subsidized housing be evicted for having a gun?
Police are sending Aleah Wallace’s case to a grand jury to decide if there are any criminal charges, but the federally subsidized property she’s lived in has told her she has to go. But a Dallas attorney says her eviction may not be so cut and dry.
It was the second burglary attempt within about two hours. Police were at Wallace’s home after the first about 1:15 a.m.
"At that point, I had to think about my babies," Wallace told FOX 4 in a Dec. 21 interview. "I didn't know that he was 14 when he was on the other side of that window. All I knew was that somebody could come in here and hurt me or my kids."
The single mother of four experienced multiple break-ins since October. The others happened when they were not home.
"I have been talking with my colleagues. I want Ms. Wallace to know she has several legislators in Texas pulling for her," Isaac said. "And if we need to strengthen our Second Amendment laws, specifically regarding public housing, we will do that. I don't believe we have to. I believe this is unconstitutional."
Isaac also has a message for the management at the complex where Wallace was a resident for six years.
"They are creating an unsafe environment by taking away the Second Amendment right of law-abiding citizens," she said. "And I want her to know that we are fighting for her, pulling for her. And we'll do everything we can to make sure that she has a roof over her head and that they are not throwing her out on the street."
Isaac says her goal is to first stop the eviction and, if necessary, to help Wallace find housing.
Wallace says there has been no indication the apartment complex plans to reverse the eviction decision.
Attorney Mark Melton, who we interviewed about the case, has decided to try and help as well, at no cost to Wallace.