Mississippi high court rules Wal-Mart not responsible for selling ammo to minor

Jackson, Miss. -- The Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is not liable for selling bullets to an underage customer who then used the ammunition to commit murder.



The lawsuit was filed by the relatives of Robert Williams, who was shot and killed by his girlfriend's son in 2006. The son, Xavier Zurndell Moore, was 20 years old at the time, and shot Williams with ammunition purchased at a local Walmart store. Federal law requires that a person be 21 to buy pistol ammunition.



Moore pleaded guilty to manslaughter.



To reach their decision, a majority of the Mississippi Supreme Court found that there was little evidence to prove that Wal-Mart knew Moore was under age."Further, nothing in the record suggests that, at the time of purchase, Wal-Mart had any reason to believe that Moore would commit a criminal act," the court ruled.