Dayton man accused of shooting speeding driver indicted for murder

Victim was found dead inside pickup on railroad tracks, police said.

Credit: Montgomery County Jail

Credit: Montgomery County Jail

A 51-year-old Dayton was indicted Thursday for murder after a man who had been speeding through a neighborhood was found shot to death earlier this month inside a pickup truck on railroad tracks.

Christopher Earl Oakes will be arraigned Tuesday in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court for two counts of murder and felonious assault, each with a three-year firearm specification; and single counts of tampering with evidence, having weapons while under disability for a prior offense of violence and discharge of a firearm on or near prohibited premises, which also includes a three-year firearm specification.

Oakes is accused of firing a gun across Hamilton Avenue near his home on Boltin Street, which killed 22-year-old Jacob Osborne. A witness identified Oakes as the suspect, police said.

Officers responded around 10 p.m. May 16 to a traffic complaint on Huffman Avenue. A caller reported a man in a red pickup truck was speeding up and down the street and yelling at her, according to dispatch records.

While investigating, officers learned the pickup was on railroad tracks on Huffman Avenue. The driver, later identified as Osborne, was found dead inside the truck with an apparent gunshot wound.

“Homicide detectives were requested to the scene and the preliminary investigation reveals the deceased was driving at a high rate of speed through the neighborhood for an extended period of time,” said Lt. Jason Hall. “During this time, the victim was shot while operating the vehicle on Hamilton Avenue. After being shot, the vehicle continued on and traveled the railroad bed until coming to rest in the 300 block of Huffman Avenue.”

The shooting was one of at least three deaths on May 16 that Dayton police investigated.

Earlier that day, officers responded to a stabbing reported at Troy Dairy Foods on Troy Street that led to the death of 61-year-old Bart Atkins.

About five hours later, officers were called to a shooting in the 100 block of Xenia Avenue where they found a man lying in the street with multiple gunshot wounds. The man was identified as 57-year-old Wayne Bowman, of Dayton, who died of his injuries at Miami Valley Hospital.

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