GREENVILLE — A man allegedly shot and killed his roommate in a Darke County apartment early Wednesday morning.
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The shooting happened in the 100 block of Russ Road at around 1:45 a.m. on July 8.
Moments after the shooting, Tood Black told Darke County dispatch that he shot James Corcoran in self-defense.
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Corcoran’s girlfriend, Paige Pittman, told News Center 7’s Amber Jenkins about the growing tension between the men.
Pittman said their newborn will now grow up without a father.
“He is an amazing dad. That is the one thing that made me fall for him is how much love he had for his son,” Pittman said.
She added that fatherhood was a badge of honor for Corcoran.
7 weeks ago, their young family grew.
“My baby looks just like him. So that is the last piece of James that I do have. So I’m loving him a little extra now that I don’t have James with me anymore,” Pittman said.
With their family living at a Greenville apartment complex, Pittman said Corcoran welcomed Black as a roommate to help with bills.
“And then he ended up just freeloading off of us,” Pittman said.
She was just outside the apartment in the hall when she called 911.
“I need police; my roommate is threatening to shoot my boyfriend, and he does have a loaded gun in here,” Pittman told dispatchers.
“Are they all in the house now?” the dispatcher replied.
“Oh my god, I just heard a gunshot,” Pittman said.
She went back inside the apartment moments later.
“I went into the apartment to see if he was still alive, and he was twitching, and I was checking for a pulse, and I couldn’t find one. And I was screaming, I was like, ‘Babe, wake up, wake up,’” Pittman said.
Then, Black made his own call to 911.
“And then he attacked me; he tackled me to the ground, started punching me in the face, so I shot him in the (expletive) chest,” Black told dispatchers.
Pittman said she’s heartbroken.
“It was never anything that we couldn’t get through. He was very supportive and listened to me and was very open to my opinions,” she said.
On Thursday, a Darke County judge charged Black with murder and set his bond at $1 million.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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