According to online jail records, Cooley on Friday, June 26, began his time in the Montgomery County Jail on negligent homicide conviction out of Kettering Municipal Court.
According to the same online records, Cooley was arrested Jan. 9 on a warrant issued the day before on the first-degree misdemeanor charge filed by Moraine police.
Cooley was sentenced on June 12 to 180 days (80 of them suspended). He was to serve five days in jail, followed by 92 days on house arrest. He gets credit for three days served, according to the jail records.
He also is to be on probation for five years and is prohibited from consuming alcohol or possessing firearms during that time. The court also ordered him to pay $500 restitution toward funeral expenses and he is required to complete treatment and counseling.
UPDATE @3:24 p.m. (Nov. 5, 2014)
Kayle Anderson said on Sunday she went to the birthday party for her 5-year-old grandson, who lives next door to the victim, Gary Trudo. It was crowded with few parking spots available.
Anderson said she had never met the neighbor, Gary Trudo, but her first impression was that he was a “really nice guy.”
She said Gary popped his head out of the door and offered, “If you need a place to park, go ahead and park in the driveway.”
Anderson said she understands why neighbors would be reluctant to talk, but she felt it important that someone talked about how nice Gary was. She said that she’s been told Gary was homeless and that a neighbor was allowing Gary to stay at the home to give him a second chance at life.
“He was trying to make a change in his life,” Anderson said. “When someone’s trying to turn his life around, that’s just sad.”
Anderson got the call from her son after the shooting when police were converging on the house. She said they at first thought it was a car backfiring. She said her grandson was moved to a safer room after they learned it was gunfire.
“I was scared,” she said. “It hits you hard. You hear about gunfire. My family lives right there! How does that just happen?”
UPDATE @ 10:17 a.m. (Nov. 5, 2014):
Moraine police arrested the neighbor who called to report the shooting.
Thomas L Cooley, 41, is being detained in the Montgomery County Jail on suspicion of reckless homicide. According to 911 records, Cooley admitted to the dispatcher that he shot the victim, Gary Trudo.
Later, during the same 911 call, Cooley can be heard telling the dispatcher that the victim shot himself.
UPDATE @ 9:13 a.m., (Nov. 5, 2014):
The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office has identified the victim as Gary L. Trudo.
UPDATE @ 12:24 a.m. (Nov. 5, 2014): The death of a 46-year-old man found in the house on Telhurst Court is being investigated as suspicious and police are questioning two men who were with the victim when the shooting occurred, Moraine police Sgt. Jon Spencer said.
The victim’s name is to be released sometime today, the sergeant said, noting that he and investigators aren’t sure whether the victim lived at the address where he was found.
“I believe they all knew each other,” Sgt. Spencer said of the three men. “It’s considered a suspicious death at this time… the circumstances surrounding it are not known yet.”
A weapon, which Spencer did not describe, was found in the house. Detectives were securing a search warrant for the property, he said.
The victim has been taken to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office.
UPDATE @ 10:10 p.m.: Detectives have been called out to that fatal shooting on Telhurst Court police are calling "questionable."
Police say a middle-age male was found in the home. They were called there sometime around 9:30 p.m.
Neighbors tell us the man was seen drinking beer on the porch before he went inside the residence.
FIRST REPORT (Nov. 4, 2014)
Police are on the scene of a shooting in the 3000 block of Telhurst Court.
We have a crew en route. We will update this story as we get details.
Stay with whio.com for breaking news.
About the Author