When Does it Move Beyond Self-Defense?': Civil Rights Leader Questions Texas Dad's Killing of Daughter's Molester

Despite receiving tremendous support from nearby residents who say he was justified in his actions, the Texas dad who beat his 4-year-old daughter's alleged molester to death near Shiner, Texas is remorseful for taking a man's life, KRIV-TV in Houston reports.

(Related: 'He Got What He Deserved': Texas Dad Beats His Daughter's Molester to Death)

"He told me that it wasn't his intent for this individual to lose his life; he was just protecting his daughter," Lavaca County Sheriff Micah Harmon said, recalling his conversation with the father after the incident on Saturday. The Sheriff doesn't anticipate charges against the dad, but following an investigation the case will go to a grand jury.

KRIV-TV reports it was the father who initially called 9-1-1.

Yesterday, The Blaze brought you the story about the aforementioned father who after hearing his young daughter's screams coming from the family's horse barn, found a man reportedly sexually assaulting her. He yanked the attacker off of her and punched him in the head repeatedly and ultimately killed him.

Now, a Texas civil rights leader has come out and questioned the father's choice to "summarily execute" the alleged attacker without due process.

James Harrington, director of the Texas Civil Rights Project in Austin, said the dad had the right to "defend" his daughter but suggests he may have gone to far due to "anger."

“Assuming it’s true that this guy was molesting the daughter, and we don’t know what exactly happened at this point, he would then have the right to defend [her], and hit him enough to have him stop,” Harrington told FoxNews.com. “But you cannot summarily execute him, even though I can understand the anger he would have.”

Harrington reportedly went on to say that, without specific knowledge of the case, he was “surprised” that the girl’s dad had not been charged yet.

“The question is: When does it move beyond self-defense?” he asked.

But as Hot Air points out, the Texas penal code is pretty clear and it appears that the Texas father was not only morally justified but legally as well.

According to the penal code:

(a) A person is justified in using deadly force against another:

(1) if the actor would be justified in using force against the other under Section 9.31; and

(2) when and to the degree the actor reasonably believes the deadly force is immediately necessary:

(A) to protect the actor against the other's use or attempted use of unlawful deadly force; or

(B) to prevent the other's imminent commission of aggravated kidnapping, murder, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, robbery, or aggravated robbery.

(b) The actor's belief under Subsection (a)(2) that the deadly force was immediately necessary as described by that subdivision is presumed to be reasonable if the actor:

(1) knew or had reason to believe that the person against whom the deadly force was used:

(A) unlawfully and with force entered, or was attempting to enter unlawfully and with force, the actor's occupied habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment;

(B) unlawfully and with force removed, or was attempting to remove unlawfully and with force, the actor from the actor's habitation, vehicle, or place of business or employment; or

(2) did not provoke the person against whom the force was used; and

(3) was not otherwise engaged in criminal activity, other than a Class C misdemeanor that is a violation of a law or ordinance regulating traffic at the time the force was used.

(c) A person who has a right to be present at the location where the deadly force is used, who has not provoked the person against whom the deadly force is used, and who is not engaged in criminal activity at the time the deadly force is used is not required to retreat before using deadly force as described by this section.

Further, in another unsettling development in the case, authorities have revealed that the deceased 47-year-old alleged predator apparently has family ties to Mexico, where investigators are currently attempting to notify his next of kin. His identity still hasn't been revealed other than he is from Gonzales, Texas.

District Attorney Heather McMinn told FoxNews.com that the case is still being investigated and the Texas Rangers are now involved.

“My understanding is that they are looking for family members in Mexico,” McMinn said.

Police have not confirmed whether or not the man was an illegal alien or a U.S. citizen with family in Mexico.

The name of the father has not been made public either in a bid to shield the 4-year-old little girl from any further trauma.

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