When Christopher Peterson of Inkster, Michigan, had to pull his firearm and shoot his mother’s ex-boyfriend on July 3, he likely had no idea he’d be charged with second-degree murder and have a court fight on his hands.

Thankfully for Peterson, two months after the incident, a district court judge ruled the shooting to be self-defense and dropped the charges against him.

According to police reports, Peterson, 24, was at his home late one evening and got into an argument with 49-year-old Dante Carey, his mother’s ex-boyfriend. The argument escalated to threats, and Peterson pulled his gun and shot Carey several times. Peterson had a license to carry the firearm.

Carey later died from his wounds, and Peterson was charged with both second-degree murder and using a firearm during the commission of a felony. He was later released on a $250,000 bond.

According to Robert Burton-Harris, Peterson’s attorney, Carey had a “lengthy history” of domestic violence against Peterson’s mother and at the time he was killed was on a tether for an unrelated assault with the intent to do great bodily harm less than murder and felonious assault. Still, Peterson was treated like a murderer and was set to go on trial earlier this month on the stiff charges. 

But on September 4, Judge Brian Oakley of Romulus’s 34th District Court dismissed the murder charge and the charge of using a firearm during the commission of a felony after hearing some of the evidence in the case during the preliminary examination and determining Peterson shot Carey in self-defense.

While that was welcome news to both Peterson and his attorney, Burton-Harris told the Detroit News that the incident was still an unfortunate one.

“My client, like anybody, is happy to not have the most serious charges hanging over his head, but he is not happy about the situation,” Burton-Harris told the newspaper. “He’s certainly not happy about having to do what he had to do. He understands and acknowledges someone lost their life. It’s a very unfortunate situation.”

Had Peterson been convicted of the crimes he was charged with he would have faced lengthy prison time. The penalty for second-degree murder in Michigan is life in prison without parole, or any term of years in prison at the discretion of the court. The charge of carrying a firearm during commission of a felony is a mandatory two years in prison.

It’s still possible that prosecutors could appeal the judge’s dismissal of the case, but no announcement has been made yet on that matter.