63-Year-Old Great-Grandmother Shoots Attempted Robber Holding Her at Gunpoint

Killing anyone — let alone a teenager — was the last thing Elzie Pipkins wanted to do when she bought a handgun at a local pawn shop days after a December burglary. But a few weeks later, on Sunday evening, Pipkins found herself using that weapon to defend herself and her family — ultimately taking the life of a 16-year-old holding her at gunpoint.

“I looked him dead in his eyes, like I’m looking at you, and I said, ‘Please, please, please don’t hurt us,”’ said a tearful Elzie Pipkins as she recounted shooting Devon Antonio Young as he attempted to rob Pipkins in her home.

“I was defending myself, my grandbaby and my great-grandson. We’re innocent people and he came up on us in the house with a loaded shotgun,” she said.

The 63-year-old great-grandmother lives alone, but serves as the matriarch of a large family and often cares for the youngest members.

“I did what any parent or loved one would do and that’s try to protect her own,” said Pipkins, surrounded by her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren on Monday afternoon in the living room of her home in the 3000 block of Morningside Drive.

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