CANTON, S.D. (KELO) — A Tea man is asking a Lincoln County judge to dismiss a first-degree murder case because of self-defense.
On Wednesday at the Lincoln County Courthouse in Canton, 61-year-old Timothy Overton’s defense argued why the judge should dismiss the case due to self-defense immunity.
Overton is accused of shooting and killing a contractor with a local big box store who came to his home on the north side of Tea on June 3, 2024.
He’s accused of assaulting Isaiah Morales with brass knuckles before he allegedly shot and killed him. He faces charges of first-degree murder, aggravated assault and interfering with emergency communication. The indictment says Overton is also accused of trying to stop a woman from calling for help.
On Wednesday, the first witness called to the stand by the defense was the Tea police chief who recounted the events that took place on June 3, 2024. She stated that she heard the call from dispatch at around 11:40 a.m., where she, along with one other officer and a detective, arrived on the scene. She said they saw a man lying on the ground with clear trauma on his head.
Police then entered the apartment building and took Overton into custody.
The next witness the defense called was a sergeant with the Tea police department. He testified that when they entered the building, Overton came into the hallway and was holding a gun upside down in one hand and a magazine in the other hand. Police told Overton to drop the weapon. He did not comply. Instead, he walked toward police and they disarmed him. The sergeant says Overton said he was not a threat. He then told police, “He come up, he jumped on my back, he hit me”
Overton was then checked out by medical staff at the scene and transported to a Sanford hospital.
The police sergeant testified that Overton had a bruise near the left eyelid. The sergeant said he heard Overton tell EMS responders “that he was hit with a closed fist holding a knife and then jumped on.” The sergeant said Overton stated that he tried to shoot him in the shoulder.
South Dakota’s self-defense law is rather new, taking effect in 2021 with “stand your ground” protections.
Under South Dakota law, a person is justified in using or threatening to use deadly force if they reasonably believe it’s necessary to prevent a forcible felony. The “stand your ground” law does not apply if you are doing something illegal.
The defense then called the Lincoln County Coroner to the stand who detailed the victims injury’s stating he died due a gunshot wound to the head, with the method of death being homicide.
He added that the victim had 2 lacerations on his hand that could have been from gripping the blade of a knife defensively, as well as a contusion near his lip.
He added that the shot was around 12 inches away from the victim, adding that the shot was not up against the skin directly.
The last person the defense called on for the day was a Forensic Scientist.
He described the scene and the process of how he recreated it, saying he uses a 3D program to model what the scene would look like and uses physics processing to recreate crime scenes.
The scientist said that the wounds on the victims hands more than likely came from the knife that was recovered from the scene with the lacerations lining up with grabbing the knife, saying there was no other source of blood except for the gunshot wound on his head.
The forensic experts’ conclusion on the matter was that there was a confrontation between Overton and the victim. Overton then went to the door of his vehicle to procure a firearm. During this time, the victim then grabbed him from behind. Overton then mounted the gun on his shoulder and shot behind him, shooting the victim in the head.
He said the model he produced showed that what was described is plausible.
The case picks up again in the Lincoln County Courthouse at 8:30 a.m.
