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Victim 'wasn't one to bother anybody,' aunt, family says
Candlelight vigil was held for Damarion Flippin, who was gunned down last week at age 17.
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Wednesday, November 19, 2008
DAYTON — Damarion Flippin was finding a path in life and remained an uplifting gentleman when he was shot and killed while waiting for a bus to school, the 17-year-old's family and friends said Tuesday evening, Nov. 18.
"He had a girlfriend; he was going to be a nurse; he loved his sisters and his brothers and he was getting his freedom," Flippin's mother, Kesha Kelly, said before about 80 people gathered at a candlelight vigil in his honor.
"We were starting to realize that he was a man. He was taking responsibility in his life," his mother said.
Flippin was shot the morning of Nov. 13 at Santa Clara and Wheatley avenues. He had been waiting with his girlfriend, Shantae Lewis, for a bus to school at the Isus Institute of Construction Technology. He died about six hours later at a hospital.
Police have arrested two 17-year-olds in the ambush-style shooting and are searching for a 13-year-old. Police believe the shooting resulted from a prior fight that started over a rumor at school.
The Dayton Daily News is not identifying the teens who have been arrested, pending the Montgomery County Prosecutor's Office approving charges of murder.
Lewis called Flippin a caring boyfriend who met her every morning to ride to school.
"He was a perfect gentleman, everything you would want," she said. "Opening doors, he would not let you touch the handle. He would say, 'Baby, come on, we have to get you to class so I can go to class.' " Other family members said Flippin worked to stay out of trouble.
"He wasn't one to bother anybody," said his aunt, Pat Edwards. "That needs to be said. It hurts me in my heart that he turned to walk away and they did this to him."
Police have said the shooting is not gang-related, and family members stressed that Flippin was not part of a gang.
"He was no gangbanger," Kelly said. "He wasn't a gun-carrier. No drug-seller."
"No trouble-starter at all," said Michael Dillard, Flippin's father. "Did nothing like that."
The funeral for Damarion is today at McLin Funeral Chapel, Northern Hills, 2801 N. Gettysburg Ave. Visitation will be at the funeral home, one hour before the service.
Contact this reporter
at (937) 225-7389 or
knagel@DaytonDailyNews.com
