DAYTON — The family of a man killed earlier this month is speaking out about the circumstances surrounding his shooting death.
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As previously reported, Willie Redmond was killed on Niagara Avenue on June 5.
Police arrested JaMichael Poole for the murder.
Redmond’s family said he was a veteran and served for almost a decade in uniform.
They insisted his death was no fault of his own.
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“There’s nothing like the pain of losing a child,” Elaine Scott said.
Scott just lost the oldest of her five children, 53-year-old Willie Redmond.
She is Redmond’s mother.
“If my son had got sick and died, if my son would have died in a car accident, it would have been different,” she said.
Scott received a phone call at 3 a.m., informing her of her son’s death.
Redmond died at his home on Niagara Avenue.
Police arrested Poole three days later after finding him in a home nearby.
A SWAT stand-off ended with police taking him into custody.
Redmond’s mom said someone close to him told Poole that he would pay the debt they owed Poole.
She believes this is what led to the deadly confrontation.
“He asked JaMichael to leave his home, and JaMichael wouldn’t leave, and Willie went to forcefully put him out of his home, and JaMichael pulled out a gun and shot,” Scott said.
Scott said her son is a man who has only ever wanted to help people.
The Meadowdale High School graduate raised his own son and daughter and served as a father figure for two other children.
He served in the Air Force, including the Gulf War, for nine years.
His mother said even through struggles with PTSD, he was still the loving person she’d always known.
“He cared for people, he cared about people,” Scott said.
Poole is being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1 million bond, after being officially charged just 24 hours ago.
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