ROCK HILL, S.C. -- A man won’t be tried on murder charges after he shot and killed a young father late Tuesday night, according to the Rock Hill Solicitor’s Office.

Family members say 21-year-old Lionel Chiles went to confront Rick Hall outside a house on Calhoun Street, and then attacked him. Hall fired a shot, hitting Chiles in the neck.

Chiles’ 2-year-old son, who was sitting in a car nearby, witnessed the shooting.

“This is something that this child is going to have to live with, because regardless of age, they do remember,” said Chiles’ mother, Alberta Barnette.

Hall’s father says his son was only defending himself.

“He’s innocent. It was self defense,” he said. “It was self defense; he was just protecting himself.”

The solicitor’s office agreed on Wednesday afternoon, and police dropped murder charges against Hall.

Officers say Chiles was unarmed, but because the attack happened on Hall’s property, he was allowed to defend himself.

Despite the violence, friends like Ashley Best remember Chiles as a man who was kind and cared for his young son. Best says Chiles’ life ended for no reason.

"He was just 21 years old. He was just starting his life, and he didn't deserve it,” she said.

A law recently passed in South Carolina now makes it easier to prove self defense when it involves the defendant’s property.