Ziair Green is currently being held in a juvenile detention center for allegedly killing 43-year old Ricco McGhee earlier this week.
According to the Marion Police Department, the shooting happened just before 10:45 p.m. on Jan. 18 in the 120 block of South Seffner Avenue.
According to Joel Spitzer, an attorney representing Green, the shooting happened after an assault on Green's mother by McGhee.
“It's my understanding that law enforcement took a photo of a bruised and busted lip and that she was being choked,” Spitzer said.
Spitzer says McGhee was a former husband of Green's mother. He said McGhee hit her in front of Green.
According to the complaint, Green left the home and returned, shooting McGhee in the chest killing him.
“Once he witnessed his mother being beaten, Ziair was defending his mother," Spitzer said.
Spitzer says he plans to argue the shooting was in self-defense.
The Marion County Prosecutor's Office said they do not believe the shooting was in self-defense. They intend to try Green as an adult.
After the shooting, Green fled his mother's home then turned himself over to police Thursday. His attorney says people shouldn't read too much into that.
“Just a scared 17-year-old boy put into a position that no child should be put in. I think it was out of fear not an admission of guilt,” Spitzer said.
Spitzer said he's considering using Ohio's "Stand Your Ground" law which allows a gun owner to use deadly force without having to retreat if one feels their life is threatened.
The prosecutor's office said they doubt that would apply in this case.