Hi Ally, it's James. I just uh wanted to reach out to you. On July 31st, 2022, a quiet Ohio neighborhood was about to become the scene of a chilling tragedy. An unexpected visitor arrived at the home of the Duckro family, refusing to leave when his knocks went unanswered. Moments later, he would attempt to force his way inside, and the confrontation that followed ended in disaster with every terrifying moment captured by the family's Ring doorbell camera. Just before 11:00 a.m., 22-year-old Allison Duckro and her mother Stacy had returned home from breakfast. As they approached their front door, an unfamiliar vehicle pulled into their driveway. The driver stepped out and began walking toward the house. Through the lens of the Ring camera, Allison immediately recognized him. Her ex-boyfriend, 22-year-old James Rail. Rail stood at the porch for nearly 3 minutes, knocking and waiting, but receiving no response. He never spoke, never answered Stacy's attempts to deter him, and then he walked away. To the Duck Row family, it may have seemed as if the encounter was over, but this was only the beginning of something far darker. Unseen by the camera, Rail circled around the property. Minutes later, he returned to the front door. This time with clear intent to break inside. [Music] [Music] On the other side of the door, Allison dialed 911, her voice trembling as she tried to explain the unfolding situation. >> He broke through the door and my dad shot at him. >> Ma'am, you shot at him. >> Yes. I don't want to look. Please don't make me look. >> It's okay. I can I can talk. It's fine. >> Okay. I need to know if he's been shot or not. >> I think I believe so. Yes. He's on the ground. >> He's trying to break into my house. He tried to break into the house. All right. >> Stay in line with me. >> He ruled our door in trying to get into our trying to get to our daughter. Dad, you're the best shot I ever used to save my life. >> Seconds later, the sound of three gunshots shattered the morning silence. Rail stumbled back, falling from the porch before collapsing in the driveway, just feet from Stacy's parked vehicle. The Ring camera recorded his final moments, only his lifeless feet visible in frame as he lay motionless on the ground. [Music] As the Duck Row family struggled to process what had just occurred, a neighbor named Jeff, who had heard the gunfire, walked over to see what had happened, unaware that he was stepping into the aftermath of one of Sydney's most disturbing cases. He was trying He tried to break in and get to our daughter. >> Okay. Well, he's not moving. He don't have a gun. >> He broke our door in. He's trying to get into our trying to get to our daughter. Our daughter is busting in. >> Okay. Hold on. >> Did you shoot him? >> Yes. >> Okay. Call the Call 9. We know. We've already We're on the phone with him right now. >> Okay. He's not moving. He's He He's He ain't going nowhere. I thought I heard five shots. Like what the >> No, three shots. He he broke into our door coming in after our daughter. But my husband shot he come barreling right behind me and my daughter in the car. >> Oh Jesus. >> Yeah. So we got in here and he wouldn't leave. We kept telling him to leave. >> Yeah. >> Oh my god. >> Oh my god. >> I'm sorry. >> I'm so sorry. Obviously this is a this was a clean date. They dated a long time ago and not it was a long time ago. >> I think he left your voicemail last night. >> Oh my god. >> Okay, just calm down. Calm down. >> Out front, Jeff is joined by his son. Both of them stare down at James, lying motionless in the driveway. The silence is heavy, broken only by Allison's voice, trembling over the 911 call. Within minutes, officers from the Sydney Police Department pull up. Jeff waits for them on the lawn, his shirt still stained from the struggle. Some officers rush inside where Mitch Dukro is standing in the doorway, looking shaken but guarded. What investigators don't know yet is that James hadn't just shown up unannounced. Hours earlier, he left Allison a chilling voicemail, a message that will later be played in court. As detectives take control of the scene, an officer scans the area. The broken glass, the blood, the faces of a family that doesn't look like victims, but like people hiding something. Allison especially seems rattled, but not just from fear. Something else lingers in her expression. >> He's dead. He's got the gun. He's got the gun. >> The gun. The people went inside here. Got this guy here trying to break into her house. The guy's dead. He died. >> Where's the guy with the gun? >> The guy's dead. Right here. Where's the guy with the gun? >> Inside the house. He's the homeowner. This guy tried to break in the house. >> Okay. >> And the guy was just basically protect himself. >> We're right here. >> Okay. You guys have your gun down? >> Yeah. Yeah. We're right here. here guys. This guy just died. >> Okay, I'm not going to go through a lot of questions right now. Like I said, we got detectives that'll be in route and they'll pretty much be handling how this all shakes out. So, you guys just comfort each other, keep each other calm, work together. >> What should I do if I get out? >> Just stay sit stay sitting down. >> If you want to lay on your back and just kind of just stay as stay flat just that that way if you do pass out, you're already laying down. So, you've been split up for a couple years. When's the last time you've talked to him? >> So, you there's been no communication for 2 years >> and then just >> just out of the blue, he started >> everything. Yeah. I don't >> The detectives will want to take check that out and everything else. >> Later that same day, the entire Dukro family sits down at the station. Each of them gives their version of the events. But when it's Allison's turn, investigators hear a story they did not expect. Details about her relationship with James that would twist the entire case upside down. All right. And my name's Angie. I'm an investigator here and I just want to talk to you about what happened to say, okay? If you need to take a break during any of this, just let me know. Do you need to use the restroom or anything? No. Okay. If you'd like to have that water, you most certainly are welcome to it. All right. Anytime we interview anybody, we just kind of go over your Miranda rights. It doesn't mean that we think you're in trouble. It's just so you know that you're you have rights and what they are. >> Back at the station, Allison sits down with detectives. Strangely, she agrees to talk without a lawyer. Even though James had broken in, even though this was self-defense, a victim should always wait for legal counsel, but Allison doesn't. She starts talking fast, and what she reveals will leave detectives stunned. >> Who was the voicemail from? >> James. >> And did you call him James? Does he go by James? >> Yeah, that's his legal name. Yeah. >> Okay. Is that what he goes by? >> Yeah, I'm pretty positive. >> Okay. What time did he send you a voicemail? Um 11:30 or 11:40 last night. >> Last night. Okay. >> Because he had called me prior and I didn't answer cuz I'm like I'm not getting into that. I was like >> So you recognize the number when he called? >> Yeah. >> Does it come up James on your phone or his number? Okay. Do you know his phone number? >> No. Not it'll be in my phone. >> That's fine. How many times did he call before he left the voicemail? >> I think it was just once cuz I was asleep. >> Okay. Okay. So, I don't know if it had rung prior and I just woke up on the last one before the voicemail or if it was just the one time and I was like up. >> Okay. >> I don't know. >> So, he called, you ignored it, he left a voicemail. >> And did you date him or? >> Yeah. >> How long did you guys date? >> Okay. So, it was like on it was like a on and off thing for a couple of years. >> Okay. >> I want to say in total maybe like a year and a half if we added it all up. >> Like all through your high school years or after you graduated? It started in high school and then it went out of high school. Okay, >> just very briefly. >> Okay. >> Allison explains that even after their breakups, she and James stayed in touch, always circling back as friends. But everything shifted after their final split in 2019. That was over 3 years ago. Yet, James never truly let go. On and off, were they bad breakups or just >> We stayed friends every single time. So I don't >> And when was the final breakup approximately? >> We moved into the house 2020. I want to say maybe 2019 or 2020. I'm not positive. >> Okay. What caused that breakup? >> He was just he was being a dick. >> Okay. >> Sorry. I I'm sorry. >> Um we're all adults here. You can you can say whatever you need to say. >> He was just being rude all the time and I was just like I don't want to I don't want to put up with it. Was he ever abusive physically or mentally? >> Well, maybe mentally a little bit. He would just get in my head a bunch. >> When he got mad, what kind of things was he aggressive at all? >> He would just tell me everything that was wrong with me. He would say that nobody was going to love me anymore. Stuff like that cuz he's a child. But >> okay. >> Would he scream those things to you? >> You know, it was all over text and everything. and he would never say it to my face, which [Music] >> Okay. So, you broke up in 2019. Did you bring any friends after that? >> Not that last time. No, I said I didn't want to have anything to do with them anymore after that. >> Are you Facebook acquaintances or anything like that where you could have kept on an eye on what you were doing? >> I had blocked him on everything that I could have done. >> Okay. And then the voicemail or the call last night, when's the last time you had talked to him? Um I think um it was either last the beginning of last year or the end of the year before cuz he had my cousin had been living with us for a little bit. >> Okay. >> For more than a year, Allison hadn't spoken to James. No calls, no texts, nothing. But that silence shattered the night before the shooting. Around 11 p.m., James picked up the phone and left Alice in a voicemail. A message that would later sound haunting in light of what was about to unfold. >> Um, it's James. I just uh wanted to reach out to you. Um, because I uh I just wanted to uh see how you're doing. Um, and uh maybe hear from you if that would uh be over ideas. Um, it's been a while since I've talked to you and I don't know feel like it. Uh, I don't know what I feel. Um, I do know that I do want to talk to you though. I do. It'd be nice. Be sweet. Um, it's probably late right now, but uh, if you want tomorrow, uh, you could probably, uh, give me a call. >> The detective wraps up his interview with Allison. Now, it's her father's turn in the hot seat. Yes, there's clear camera footage of the incident, but in a case like this, detectives can't rely on video alone. They have to make sure beyond doubt that what happened was truly self-defense. Legally, there are four elements that define self-defense. The attack must be unprovoked. The attack must place the victim in immediate danger of injury or death. The victim's response must use only a reasonable amount of force. And finally, the victim must genuinely be in fear for their life. The footage already shows Allison and her father were in immediate danger and that the force used against James matched the threat. But one critical question remains. Was James provoked or did he come there already intent on violence? >> So, let's go to this morning. Okay, we'll just start from the time you woke up. Okay. What happened? Okay. And then um go ahead. I started watching a Netflix movie. Okay. Um about halfway through it, they dogs barked. I figured they were home. So I got paused that and was walking up the steps about halfway up and Stacy's standing there. She like, "You expecting somebody?" And I'm like, "No, why?" I kind of don't remember as far as they said it was James maybe, but I didn't hear James cuz I didn't know who it was. I was like I wasn't expecting anybody. He was just standing there. Had the door ring and I I think he rang the door. So how long So your your wife and your daughter arrived back from Perkins? Okay. Um >> he pulled in right behind them. >> Okay. So they did they come in that same front door >> or did they enter the garage or do you remember? They came in the front. >> Okay. >> So, they came in back in from breakfast and then when they shut the door, did they lock it? I'm assuming >> they always lock it. >> Okay. And how long when they went in the house until James um showed up on your front porch, do you think? >> I wasn't up there when he wasn't there. When I got up there, he was already at the door. Okay. trying to they wouldn't acknowledge and then I saw him starting to jiggle the the handles and stuff seeing if it was locked and that's when I went up to the door, you know, kind of wanted to make sure he didn't force his way in. So, while he was jiggling the handle, you went up to try to I'm pretty sure I was telling him to stop and leave and get off my porch or something, but I had my knife in my hand at this hand and he then he started hitting it with his shoulder pretty hard to where he saw what he did eventually. And once I realized he was getting in and the door was open is when I shot, did you shoot through the door? I shot through the window >> through the window part of the door cuz the door was open and he was coming in. >> So he was pushing us away and you shot I had my socks on so I couldn't I didn't have no grip. >> Was he kind of pushing me back as you were trying to hold >> was moving me. >> Okay. >> That's when I at first I wasn't I was trying to shoot but my clip wasn't at him. >> Okay. >> Then I freaked out and I finally did that another rack and then he was pushing hard and that's when the gun fired. I think three times, twice up here and maybe another one. >> Allison's father sat in clear shock, still processing what he had just done to protect his family. His words were steady, but his eyes told a different story. Aside from recounting the details of the incident itself, he had little more to offer. He knew almost nothing about the deeper history between Allison and James. At this point, every piece of evidence suggested one thing. A father who acted only out of necessity against a threat that was not provoked. But the investigation wasn't over yet. Detectives had one final interview to conduct. This time with Allison's mother. >> Um, I understand that there was a voicemail left by James to your daughter, Allison. Um, were you aware of that or did you did your daughter say anything to you about that prior to this incident? >> Um, this morning she did. >> Was it at breakfast or was it >> She We were getting ready to leave to meet my friend for breakfast and she said, "Um, hey, remind me when we get before we leave from Beth's house, I want to play you something." I said, "What is it?" And she's like, "A voice message." And I said, "What's it about?" I said, I asked her. I said, "Who's it from?" She goes, "I'll just play it for you." she's she didn't want to give it away. So we kind of went round and round about that and and then so we left the house, drove to Beth's house. Beth got in the car, we sat in the car and that's when she played it from James. She played the voice message from James and then I was like, why is he calling you? And she's like, I don't know. >> I haven't. And this happened last night. I I from my understanding the voicemail she got was last night. >> Yeah, that's what she told me. It was like 11 something last night is what she told me. I don't know the exact time, but >> and I personally haven't heard the voicemail. Um, do you know what it or do you remember what it said? >> Um, in a nutshell, basically, I want to talk to you. It's been a long time. You know, it just kind of been a his voice was kind of like I don't know. I don't know how to describe it. I mean, it was just kind of like monotone and basically saying that, you know, he just wanted to talk to her and that's that's basically what it was said. I mean, he kept saying it in different ways, but but the same thing I I don't remember. >> Okay. And to your understanding, Alison never returned to his phone call. >> She did not is what she said. Yes. >> Okay. >> She never has. every time he's tried to, you know, if he's ever tried to contact her, which was way before, she's never, she's just not. >> And prior to the voicemail, do you know the last time the Tio spoke? >> Oh, it's from my understanding, it's been a long time, like years. Yeah. Yeah. From my understanding. Yeah. Like he was walking back up again. Yeah. I don't I don't know. Seems like forever. Yeah. >> So, he was there for a good good while. >> A good while. I would I don't know, but it was a good while. I It seems like it took forever. Next. >> Maybe 5 minutes. >> Okay. >> Maybe. I don't if that long. I don't know. I really don't know. You're >> fine. You're fine, Stacy. >> You're sorry. No, you have nothing to be sorry for. [Music] The case was prepared to go before a grand jury where the question was clear, should Allison's father face indictment. But before the process could even begin, the matter was dismissed entirely. The jury was unanimous. He had acted in lawful self-defense under Ohio's stand your ground law. Yet, even with that decision, one haunting question remained. What had truly driven James to that breaking point? A toxicology report was ordered and when the results came back, they revealed just a single substance in his system. Perhaps the final clue to this unsettling mystery. >> I I don't know if he had bad intentions. Okay. But from what you and Mitch and everybody's telling me, okay, that's not normal behavior for somebody to do. It's one thing to show somebody's house, right? But it's not normal behavior for them to just stand there and not not do anything. You know, >> I'm terrified. I I've never seen anything like that before. Ever. I'm terrified. I don't even want to go home. >> If you found this case as compelling as it was disturbing and want to support the work that goes into uncovering and sharing these stories, consider subscribing. Your support means more than you know. Thank you for watching and until next time, we'll continue bringing you the stories that linger long after they've ended.