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Mother of robber who was shot and killed talks to WFTV

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Only WFTV talked to the mother of the robber who was shot and killed by the man he tried to rob.

Lynn Slivinski said her son, Justin, was heading down a dangerous path, because he was addicted to drugs and that is why he's dead.

She said Justin was on a waiting list to get into rehab when detectives said he and his friend, Austin Harvey, tried to rob a 63-year-old man at an ATM at the Fairwinds Credit Union Friday night.

"He was such a special part of my life and drugs do this and I hope and pray that it doesn't happen to anyone else who has to go through this," said Slivinski.

Deputies said they held the victim at knifepoint, but the victim had a gun and shot and killed Justin.

Lynn said her son is dead because he was addicted to drugs.

"He had just turned into a different person from drugs. They turned him into somebody who he didn't know and I didn't know," said Slivinski.

WFTV found out Justin had been arrested 18 times in the last six years, around the same time Slivinski said he started using drugs.

She said he had been in rehab before, but had to stop because the insurance ran out. She said Justin was waiting to be readmitted into a rehab facility when he was killed.

Slivinski wants her son's death to be a message for people across Central Florida to use tough love on anyone who has become addicted before it's too late.

"I wish I could have helped him. I, the system, anybody, I miss him so much and I love him so much," Slivinski said.

The 63-year-old victim is not going to be charged because deputies said he was justified in the shooting.

The other suspect, Harvey, is being held in the Seminole County Jail without bond.

He faces a murder charge, because his accused accomplice died while they were committing a felony.