German officials demand justice after exchange student killed in Montana

[Jazzy]

The German consulate called for justice Wednesday after a homeowner fired four blasts from a shotgun into his garage, killing a 17-year-old exchange student who was inside.

The investigation into the killing of Diren Dede of Hamburg should make clear that it is illegal to kill an unarmed juvenile just because he was trespassing, said Julia Reinhardt, spokeswoman for the consulate in San Francisco.

"We consider what happened completely out of proportion to the probable risk," Reinhardt said.

It is not clear what Diren Dede was doing in Markus Kaarma's garage just before the shooting early Sunday morning. Prosecutors allege the 29-year-old firefighter shot into his garage without warning after an intruder tripped sensors he had installed.

Just days before, Kaarma told a woman that his house had been burglarized twice and he had been waiting up nights to shoot an intruder, court records said.

Kaarma's attorney, Paul Ryan, said his client plans to plead not guilty to a charge of deliberate homicide because Montana law allows homeowners to protect their residences with deadly force when they believe they are going to be harmed.

There had been a number of break-ins in the neighborhood and Kaarma believed the police weren't doing anything about it, Ryan said.

"We know without question the individual entered garage. Kaarma didn't know who he was, his intent or whether he was armed," Ryan said.

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Should he be charged with deliberate homicide? Why / Why not?