Stand Your Ground Defense Denied In Murdered Agent’s Case

We first covered this story HERE when Siao fled Alabama for Nevada

A judge denied a request to dismiss charges against Warren Siao, the man accused of killing a tow truck driver in 2023, ruling he is not protected under Alabama’s “Stand Your Ground” law.

The hearing took place Monday morning at the Madison County Courthouse.

Siao is accused of shooting and killing Jayson Click, a repo truck driver, outside his home December 2023. In court, Siao testified he woke up to his dogs barking and believed someone was trying to steal his car, putting his family in danger. He says he fired his rifle to scare the person away.

But prosecutors argue the shooting happened during a legal repossession, pointing to Siao’s own security video showing the tow company ringing the doorbell and removing the car from the garage.

“They rang his doorbell twice. They then use the arms on their tow truck to pull his Audi out of his garage. The state’s contention is that he knew they were repossessing his vehicle,” said Shea Keller, assistant district attorney.

Prosecutors also pointed to inconsistencies in Siao’s testimony, including how many shots were fired. Siao told the court he fired five to six times, but prosecutors say investigators found 16 shell casings at the scene. They also say after reviewing more than 24,000 videos from his home security system, the video of the actual shooting could not be found.

“In order to be justified in your killing of another, you have to intentionally kill another person because you fear that your life or the life of another is in danger. He specifically said that he was trying to warn them or scare them, and so we didn’t believe that he was entitled to stand your ground that he was entitled to have his case dismissed, and the judge agreed with us,” Keller said.

The judge denied the motion, ruling that Siao is not protected under Stand Your Ground. He will now move forward to trial, which is scheduled for June 8.