Aftermath of ‘spooky house’ shooting haunts an Ohio town
Posted on Tue, Aug. 21, 2007
The Associated Press


WORTHINGTON, Ohio | It has come to be known as the Spooky House Incident.

It is the story of a group of teenagers in a quaint older suburb of Columbus who tried to scare themselves on a “ghost hunt” and a recluse who responded with gunfire.

A high school cheerleader, Rachel Barezinsky, is crippled for life. Allen S. Davis was sentenced last month to 19 years in prison for what he said was defending his home.

The case has left people torn. Some think Davis got what he deserved for overreacting to teenagers’ antics, but many others see the girls as picking on Davis and facing no legal consequences for trespassing.

“I felt kind of sorry for both sides,” Jane Leppert said. “Although I feel very sorry for the girl who was shot, she unfortunately messed around with a kind of paranoid individual who felt the need to protect himself, even against kids.”

At 10 p.m. on Aug. 22, 2006, Barezinsky and two other girls sneaked a few feet onto Davis’ property to scare themselves because they thought that the house was spooky. They jumped in the car after their friend honked.

As the girls drove off they heard what they thought were firecrackers. It actually was shots from a rifle that Davis, then 40, had purchased to scare away prowlers.

When the girls returned to check out the noise, a bullet struck Barezinsky, then 17. Her left arm and leg were paralyzed.

Davis’ house sits across from a cemetery. He shares the house with his mother, who has a cauldron-shaped planter in the yard that gained her a witchy reputation among children.

Police determined that the girls were not trespassing because they had not gone far enough onto the property and no clearly visible signs had been posted.

Davis said from prison that he did not intend to hurt anyone. He pleaded guilty to two counts of felonious assault.

“I didn’t know what their weaponry was, what their intentions were,” Davis said. “In a situation like that, you assume the worst-case scenario if you’re going to protect your family from a possible home invasion and murder.”

© 2007 Kansas City Star and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.kansascity.com
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Pictures of davis and the victim can be found at the SOURCE.

Ghosts aren't always the scariest thing in some of the creepy houses out there... Be careful folks!

Oh man, how bad would that suck.
Note to self: Check to make sure house has no one living in it.

....Parlyzied? god that sucks...

..that would suck, ....that's a bad situation all around.

at least the girl survived....if she hadn't....
she may have been drawn back to haunt the house.
and that would be a terrible irony...

LOL!! Terrible Irony it would be, but still, what the hell is up with these kids, all these kids should be put in jail for invading someone else's privacy, they might not have gotten inside the house fully, but as far as I understood (text wasn't too specific) they did get on the man's lawn (which already is HIS property) but... even IF they went to his lawn, in order for the man to suspect the kids were attackers the kids must've done things like screaming and going "YEAH MOTHAF#@%*, IM A GHOST! BIA%@$" I know these kind of kids, and if I was the man I probably would've thought they were going to rob me as well lol

This just reminds me of hypocrite female-good looking movie stars who don't want to be seen as objects or sex toys yet just LOVE acting like them in their films.

I reckon there are far too many guns available in some neighbourhoods.

Meh.. the guy got 19 years out of this BS? for crippling a preppy cheerleader who didn't have enough brains in her head to know better? I mean come on! I know lots of people who would have done the same thing.. Could of been burglars or vandalists or anything!

This is one of those cases were stupidity was definately painful.. and her seemingly good life got turned upside down. Should have shot all of them.. IMHO. >_>

Good call, that girl was just stupid, the guy was defending his home, as far as I know, it should be the kids getting jail time, big time.

I think that's why I stick to hunting for ghosts on public property.

Found two spots that aren't far from my place that are known haunts. Though the few times I made it out there, no activity.

Though one of the places, you get a feel of great sadness.

Some states require that an individual retreat if they are able, before self-defense is justified. Others just use the "fear for your life" thing. Sounds like he got screwed when he was sentenced. I can't think he should've drawn more than five years suspended for shooting at them when they weren't a clear threat.

All I know is that those girls were very, very stupid and the guy was itching to shoot someone anyway. 19 years was too stiff, he couldn't afford a good attorney, but the preppy chick parents could. I always check out a residence's background before approaching, and get permission first anyway! These girls are not paranormal investigators. Just stupid people.

Being stupid doesn't warrant being shot. The guy could've called the police & in my opinion considering the girl is paralyzed, (which is punishment enough for trespassing) he deserves to go to jail.

the man was defenitely suppose to investigate the situation more proper.
perhaps a paranoid man is better locked up in jail, people should not be punished for curiosity!

No, but they should be punished for Trespassing.. so she got what she deserved.. I doubt she'll do that again..

As for the guy's punishment.. I probably said this already.. but it's too strict.. Rapists, Pedos, Burglars, and even some Murderers get less time.. and they all know exactly what they're doing..

Unless he has prior charges that would relate and explain his long term, it's completely uncalled for.. just my opinion.

We have gun laws to protect the public from fools like him.

Oh please, that man was fully justified in shooting at the intruders. When are people going to start to teach these idiot kids to take responsibility for their actions. This man took responsibility for shooting the girl and got a way too severe punishment for it. There are too many excuses made on behalf of teenagers these days. They knew what they were doing was wrong and they took their chances. Labeling this guy as paranoid is ridiculous, as anyone watching the news lately will plainly see the criminals are getting bolder and do not care what they do or who they hurt (e.g. UNC co-ed Carson). Maybe if she had been allowed to carry a gun on campus, she could have shot her killer(s) before they shot her. Or the co-ed at Auburn University, maybe she could have killed or at least wounded her murderer. My son goes to college now and has been attacked (strangled) in his dorm room by one of the roommates yet the boy who was strangling him was not punished by the college other than being moved to a different dorm and the we had to push the court system to get him prosecuted. Also, why in the world would those girls have returned to his property after they heard a lound bang. I think they wanted to tease him even more and probably would have kept driving by his house if one of them had not been shot. If anyone was the fool in this situation it was the girls not the man protecting his property.