3 shot dead in Dayton, 1 man in custody: ‘This was a targeted attack’

Credit: Jim Noelker

Credit: Jim Noelker

A Trotwood man is in custody in connection to a triple homicide that Dayton police said stemmed from a robbery and drug deal.

Octavius Lamont Humphrey Sr., 41, was booked into the Montgomery County Jail on suspicion murder, tampering with evidence and having weapons while under disability, according to jail booking records and a police incident report. Formal charges had not been filed against Humphrey as of Wednesday afternoon.

The victims were identified as Dontay Alston, 45, of Dayton; Michael A. Jackson, 48, of Dayton; and Justin Wilson, 37, of Wilmington, according to Montgomery County Coroner Dr. Kent Harshbarger.

Police responded at 5:50 p.m. Tuesday to a report of three people shot at a house in the 2600 block of North Gettysburg Avenue.

Dayton Police Lt. Jason Hall said Wednesday that an investigation into the shooting led to a search warrant for a Morgan Avenue home in Trotwood. Humphrey was arrested in the 200 block of Morgan Avenue on Wednesday morning, according to jail records.

Credit: Montgomery County Jail

Credit: Montgomery County Jail

“We did apprehend a person of interest and evidentiary items in the home,” Hall said.

Hall said officers made the arrest without incident, and there is reason to believe that the suspect and the victims were acquaintances.

“This was a targeted attack,” Hall said. “This was not random in any way, shape or form. It was a robbery with ties to drug sales.”

Police are not seeking any other persons of interest or suspects at this time but continue to investigate. Hall said the shots were fired inside the home, and they believe everyone involved has been accounted for.

A preliminary investigation revealed the shooting stemmed from a robbery connected to a drug deal, Hall said. He said a large amount of marijuana was recovered as part of the police investigation, but he did not have an amount recovered.

The deaths are the 39th, 40th and 41st homicides in Dayton so far this year. Hall said three families are hurting.

“When we talk about drug sales, that in no way minimizes the crime that occurred,” Hall said. “There are three families that lost husbands, brothers, fathers in this.”