Man shot by stepfather in Encinitas home died Christmas Eve, authorities say

A man authorities said was shot and gravely wounded by his stepfather early Monday morning Dec. 23 inside the family’s Encinitas home died in a hospital on Christmas Eve, a day after the shooting, a sheriff’s homicide lieutenant said Friday, Dec. 27.

According to investigators, 59-year-old Robert Dean had threatened his 80-year-old mother with a knife around 5:45 a.m. Monday at a home on Greenlake Drive near Evergreen Drive.

When the mother screamed for help, her husband, 74-year-old William Miller, came to her aid, San Diego sheriff’s homicide Lt. Michael Blevins said in a statement. When Miller saw Dean threatening his mother with the knife, Miller grabbed a gun and shot Dean, the lieutenant said.

Deputies found Dean with at least one gunshot wound, and medics took him to a hospital in critical condition.

Dean died at the hospital Tuesday, Dec. 24, Blevins said. The county Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy Thursday, Dec. 26, ruling he died by homicide from a gunshot wound.

Miller was not facing charges as of Friday, Dec. 27, in the death of his stepson, Blevins wrote in an email Friday night, Dec. 27.

“Once the investigation is complete, it will be presented to the District Attorney’s Office to determine if any charges should be filed or to determine if the shooting was justified,” Blevins wrote in the email.

California law considers homicide justifiable in certain situations in defense of self, property and other people.

In September 2018, a man staying on a relative’s yacht in National City shot and killed an intruder. In March, a man shot and killed a suspected burglar who allegedly tried to break into his car and attacked a security guard in El Cajon. In July, a 20-year-old man shot and killed an intruder who was stabbing his father inside the family’s San Carlos home.

None of the shooters in those cases faced charges.

— Alex Riggins is a reporter for The San Diego Union-Tribune