His mother, Melissa Chancellor, said catching the killer would help ease the terrible loss of losing her only son.
“I pray about it,” she said. “They don’t know what they put his mother through by taking him like that.”
Police and Chancellor’s family say someone must know something about what happened that day, and it’s not too late to do the right thing and come forward.
Dayton police officials say cold cases can be very hard to solve, but the smallest bit of new information can be a game-changer.
“It’s the littlest things that can crack these cases wide open,” said Dayton police Lt. Steve Bauer, who supervises the department’s cold case unit and the violent offender unit.
Years go by
Feb. 5 will be the four-year anniversary of Damian Chancellor’s death.
The 23-year-old was shot in the back in an alley behind DJ‘s Furniture in the 2100 block of North Main Street in the Santa Clara-North Riverdale area.
Chancellor died shortly after that at Grandview Medical Center, now Kettering Health Dayton.
A witness saw four males run from the scene, but to this day, those individuals have not been identified by police.
Detectives went to great lengths to try to figure out who was there during the shooting, police said. But the search for a suspect or another eyewitness came up empty-handed.
Melissa Chancellor recently attended a Dayton City Commission meeting to tell city leaders that her son’s case still very much deserves attention, and that she wants and needs answers.
She said she hadn’t spoken with the lead detective in a couple of years, and every time they talked, he had nothing new to share.
Fighting back tears, Melissa Chancellor told the Dayton City Commission, “For me to see him one day and the next day he’s just gone and there’s no answers — that’s not right.
She continued, “And I’m hurting every day. My attitude has changed. I have a lot of anger in me. I have hate in me I didn’t have.”
“I need answers about what happened to my son,” she said. “I need justice for my son.”
Dead ends
Unfortunately, there are times when all leads have been exhausted and the only thing detectives can do is wait and hope for more information to come in, said Lt. Bauer.
But Bauer said he tried to reassure Chancellor’s mother that police have not forgotten about her son’s case. He said hopefully they re-established an open line of communication.
Police detectives try to keep in touch with victims’ loved ones and family members but that’s not always easy to do, given their case loads and limited resources, Bauer said.
“It’s an important role — no question, and frankly, it’s something I think we could do better,” he said. “How we go about doing that systematically is something to continue to think about.”
Bauer said he thinks Damian Chancellor’s case can be solved.
He said the best chance for that to happen is to identify any of the people who were seen fleeing the scene.
It’s also certainly possible that DNA or other types of forensic evidence could provide new leads, he said.
“Sometimes all it takes is somebody saying one little thing,” he said.
Anyone with information on the case can call 937-333-1232 or 937-222-STOP (7867), or email www.miamivalleycrimestoppers.com.
Bauer oversees Dayton’s cold case unit, which is currently working to try to solve about a dozen crimes.
The unit, which investigates unsolved homicides and sexual assaults, has been beefed up and now has two full-time and several part-time investigators, Bauer said.
The unit recently helped with identifying and apprehending a suspect in multiple rape and sexual assault cases from about nine years ago.
Dayton police say Damian Chancellor’s family deserves justice, but catching the culprit also is important because he or she has already killed once before and may be capable of doing it again.
Dayton had 53 homicides and incidents of non-negligent manslaughter in 2019 — the year Damian Chancellor died (and the year of the Oregon District mass shooting), police data show. There were 48 in 2020, 30 in 2021, and 33 last year.
Hard times
Melissa Chancellor regularly visits her son’s grave in West Memory Gardens in Moraine.
She makes his favorite dishes on his birthday and on some holidays. He was a big fan of spaghetti, chicken and sweet potato pie.
Damian Chancellor really enjoyed music and playing basketball, and he was a good and caring person and proud and loving uncle, his mother said. He had three sisters.
“He was my protector,” she said. “A piece of me is gone that I will never get back.”
Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims Jr. and some police officials spoke with Melissa Chancellor after the meeting.
During the meeting, the mayor told her, “I can’t imagine the pain of someone losing a child.”
Commissioners said they would keep her and her family in their prayers.
“We all recognize your pain, and we pray that you might get some comfort,” said Commissioner Darryl Fairchild, who is manager of chaplain services at Dayton Children’s Hospital. “In my experience, this journey of grief is a difficult one, and it is unique for every person ... Know that we pray that people will surround you and support you on that journey.”
Older cold case
Another Montgomery County cold case also received some renewed attention recently.
Tuesday was the 23rd anniversary of the unsolved killing of Rodney Shephard.
Shephard was found dead inside his Perry Twp. home on Jan. 10, 2000, by his friend Charlie Hoops, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
Shephard and Hoops met for breakfast several times a week at the Waffle House in Brookville, but when Shephard didn’t show up or answer his phone, Hoops went to his house.
Shephard had been violently killed, Perry Twp. police said.
“The way he died is a way no one deserves to go out,” said Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck.
Streck has asked for the public’s help to finally figure out who was responsible for the killing.
Anyone with information in Shepard’s case is urged to contact detective Melanie Phelps at phelpsm@mcohiosheriff.org or 937-225-6479.
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