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Funeral set for slain stepson; pastor speaks out on tragedy

Michael Bowie, (left) a mentor to Brandon Haskins for several years at Ginghamsburg Church near Tipp City, leads a prayer for Haskins, 22, a church member who was killed Thursday in Troy. Seated next to him is Mike Slaughter, pastor of the church where Jeff Bedinger, Brandon's stepfather and alleged assailant, also attended.

Jan Underwood Michael Bowie, (left) a mentor to Brandon Haskins for several years at Ginghamsburg Church near Tipp City, leads a prayer for Haskins, 22, a church member who was killed Thursday in Troy. Seated next to him is Mike Slaughter, pastor of the church where Jeff Bedinger, Brandon's stepfather and alleged assailant, also attended.

ENLARGE PHOTO

Mike Slaughter, lead pastor at Ginghamsburg Church in Tipp City walks through the heART for the Sudan exhibit that shooting victim Brandon Haskins was involved with at the church.

Jim Witmer Mike Slaughter, lead pastor at Ginghamsburg Church in Tipp City walks through the heART for the Sudan exhibit that shooting victim Brandon Haskins was involved with at the church.

ENLARGE PHOTO

Submitted photo Jeffrey Bedinger is wanted in connection with the fatal shooting of his 22-year-old stepson, Brandon Haskins.

ENLARGE PHOTO

Brandon Haskins was identified as the victim of a shooting death in Troy on Thursday, July 8, 2010. Contributed photo from Claybridgespublishing.com.

Claybridgespublishing.com Brandon Haskins was identified as the victim of a shooting death in Troy on Thursday, July 8, 2010. Contributed photo from Claybridgespublishing.com.

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By Jim DeBrosse and Christopher Magan
Staff Writers Updated 2:29 AM Monday, July 12, 2010

TIPP CITY – Just a week ago the man accused of killing his stepson by shooting him repeatedly in the chest was serving as an usher at his church and worshiping with his family.

Mike Slaughter, Ginghamsburg Church pastor, said that makes the “unexplainable insanity” Jeffrey Bedinger is accused of even harder to understand.

“I know Jeff. We’ve been on ski trips together. I’ve shared motel rooms with him on ski trips,” Slaughter told church members at a Saturday, July 10, service.

Bedinger prompted a nationwide manhunt on Thursday after allegedly killing his stepson Brandon Haskins at a Troy apartment and kidnapping his own son Zane, 7. After an Amber Alert was issued, Bedinger left Zane with relatives in Carmel, Ind.

Slaughter and the church staff reworked the usual evening service to address the shooting death of Haskins, 22, who was active in the church.

“When one of us suffers, all of us suffer,” Slaughter said. Grief counselors were made available all weekend to aid those who knew Haskins, a Sunday school teacher there for seven years.

Haskins was working at a computer in the Troy apartment, his mother Kimberly Bedinger and his half-brother Zane had recently moved into when he was killed.

Slaughter noted that only three hours before his death Haskins wrote: “Life is too short not to do something that matters” on his Facebook page online.

Slaughter also showed church members a YouTube video Brandon made in 2007 about the church’s work to help refugees in the Sudan’s Darfur region.

Bedinger, 50, remains in the Miami County Jail charged with aggravated murder, kidnapping and abduction.

He was arrested Friday night after leading Montgomery County sheriffs officers on a high-speed chase that ended in a crash in front of a Sugarcreek Twp. shopping center in the 6400 block of Wilmington Pike.

A handgun slid from the car, which was flipped on its top, and Bedinger crawled out and surrendered to police.

Haskins' father thankful Bedinger was caught

Haskins’ father Keith Haskins said Saturday he was thankful Bedinger was apprehended before he could hurt anyone else.

“In (Bedinger’s) state of mind, and with a gun, somebody else could have been harmed and, in fact, I think it could have been someone who didn’t know him,” he said. “It could have been a waitress at Wendy’s.”

Keith Haskins said he knew of no tension between Brandon and his stepfather. “In order to have tension, you have to think in those terms,” he said. “Brandon didn’t think in those terms. I don’t know why (Bedinger) did it.”

The Bedingers were seeing a marriage counsellor and had filed for bankruptcy in May. The filing said the couple had tens of thousands in credit card debts, two mortgages on their home and was living off of Kimberly’s salary because Bedinger was unemployed.

Haskins said he believes that Bedinger was not welcome at the Towne Park Drive address in Troy. A 9 mm Glock magazine was recovered from the apartment, according to the inventory from a search warrant.

Saturday morning, Haskins and other family members picked out a grave plot for Brandon at Woodland Cemetery in Dayton. Visitation is scheduled for 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, at Ginghamsburg Church, a 4,500-member United Methodist congregation in Tipp City. Both the funeral service and burial will be private.

Besides his mother, father and Zane, Brandon Haskins is survived by his stepmother Sandy Haskins and sisters Ashley, 14; Sara, 12; and Aimee, 9.

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