After ordeal Area man advises: Keep gun loaded

Published 2:00 pm Wednesday, September 25, 2013

MONTICELLO – “Keep your gun loaded and be prepared,” said David Maxwell Wednesday morning, following his recent ordeal involving the shooting death of an intruder early Tuesday morning.

Maxwell shot and killed one intruder and believes he hit an accomplice who was waiting in a pickup truck outside his house.

“I fired two buck shots into that vehicle,” Maxwell said. “I fired the first shot at the tire and aimed the second one through the passenger side window.”

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Maxwell recalls waking up to the barking of his Chihuahua at about 4:30 Tuesday morning at his home at 210 Henry Cox Road in Monticello.

Maxwell then armed himself with a shotgun and confronted an intruder in the kitchen of his home.

“I shot him as soon as he shined a flashlight beam on me,” Maxwell said. The man appeared to be holding a weapon, according to Maxwell. “It looked like he had something in his hand.”

After receiving Maxwell’s 911 call and arriving at the scene, Lawrence County deputies found Matthew James Javor, 30, of 3051 Greenwood Road, Ruth, lying on Maxwell’s back porch. He was pronounced dead on arrival, said Lawrence County Sheriff Joel Thames.

The accomplice drove away in a light-colored step side pickup truck according to Thames.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Thames said his department had a suspect in mind but would not release a name.

Maxwell is certain he had to have hit the unknown man. “I’m sure I hit him. Buckshot in that small of an area must have hit him,” Maxwell said.

Wednesday morning, Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Rushing said he was familiar with Javor from a previous case on him in Lincoln County dating back to 2008 involving a firearm charge.

Rushing also concurred that Lawrence County deputies are currently hunting down the accomplice.

On Tuesday, Sheriff Thames said Javor was unarmed. Thames could not be reached for comment Wednesday morning.

Investigators with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation were called in to assist with the investigation.