Heroes Abound

With any story like this, I tend to hold on to see if there is anything else going to come out to explain the events.  In this case, it really is as straightforward as it seems.  This young woman deserves to be recognized.  She did something incredibly brave, and she kept her wits about her the entire time.  And though she did what she was forced to, she does not go on with fake bravado or witty sayings.  Instead, she expresses remorse for having to shoot a man to death to protect her child.

"Obviously when somebody breaks into your house with a deadly weapon, they're not here for anything good," McKinley tells NewsOK. "But I am very sorry and it wasn't anything I wanted to do."

McKinley showed tremendous composure and maturity during an unimaginable holiday season that started when her husband Kenneth died of lung cancer Christmas Day and ended when two burglars, reportedly looking for any pain medications left behind, started slamming at the doors of her Blanchard, Okla. mobile home on Dec. 31.

"I walked over and got the 12 gauge, went in the bedroom and got the pistol, put the bottle in [my son's] mouth, then I called 911,” McKinley tells Eyewitness News 5, explaining she wanted the baby to remain quiet so the intruders would not know where she was standing as they charged through the door.

As she laid out the situation to dispatcher Diane Graham, McKinley said, "I've got two guns in my hand. Is it OK to shoot him if he comes in my door?"

Graham responded: "You do whatever you have to do to protect your baby."

You're damn right, Miss Graham. It's unfortunate that a man had to die, but he put a baby at risk to take advantage of a teenage widow mourning her husband. When you commit yourself to a plan like that, you get what you get. I hope she continues to process the event and come to grips with the enormity of it so she can go on with a relatively normal life.