Preliminary autopsy report shows teens killed by homeowner were shot in back

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – A preliminary autopsy report indicates that the two teens who were killed by a homeowner last month had both been shot in the back.

Police responded to a home in the 800 block of Conners Street on the night of August 28 after a man called 911 and told dispatchers he had shot two people in his garage.

According to police, 17-year-olds Javier Harrison and Devin Henderson were trespassing on the homeowner’s property when the shooting occurred.

A third person initially fled the scene but returned when police arrived and was arrested.

“I had just seen him that week before, and it’s just hard to imagine that he’ll never knock on my door again,” said Matthew Harrison, Javier’s uncle.

Harrison said he wants justice for his nephew.

“There’s so much else that could have been done that they didn’t really deserve for this to happen to them,” he said.

According to preliminary autopsy results from the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office, Devin Henderson was shot twice in the upper back, and the cause of his death was determined to be “gunshot wounds to the torso.”

Photos from the scene show his body was found in the garage between the front end of a vehicle and the wall.

The autopsy for Javier Harrison found he was shot three times. According to the report, he was shot once in the middle of his back, with an exit wound to the chest, and was also shot in the right thigh and left arm, with “multiple gunshot wounds” ruled as the cause of death.

Photos from investigators show Javier’s body was found in the grass near the garage entrance.

“To me…I could almost feel that they were afraid,” Matthew Harrison said.

2 NEWS is choosing not to identify the homeowner since charges have not been filed.

Harrison told 2 NEWS that family members and local groups are making sure the teens are not forgotten, holding weekly demonstrations in front of the Conners Street property.

“Injustices won’t be tolerated,” he said.

Police had said that there was “drug activity” going on at the time, but toxicology reports are not yet available.

Prosecutors have not yet made a decision on whether they will charge the homeowner for the deaths, but Mayor Nan Whaley has sided with the teens’ families, arguing that a crime had been committed.

2 NEWS reached out to the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office Monday and is still waiting to hear back.