Homicide investigation reveals victim was target of robbery 12 hours earlier

DAYTON — A woman spotted a man lying in the grass and now police are investigating his death as a homicide.

Officers said the man was the victim of foul play, but News Center 7′s Mike Campbell has uncovered a series of strange circumstances involving the man leading up to his death.

Campbell learned that Dayton Police had contact with the 56-year-old man 12 hours before he was found dead. He had apparently had his bike stolen at gunpoint and went to the West Patrol operations division to file a report.

The victim called 911 saying, “Someone just strong-armed me with a pistol and took my bike,”

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The man who identified himself as Aherene (Aaron) Dungey told officers that he had been riding his bike at Riverview and Broadway on Sunday just before noon when someone “bike-jacked” him. He was forced to walk about 10 blocks to the police division on Salem Avenue.

Dungey described both his bike and the man who robbed him in detail on the call and to officers who took the report. It seemed simple until dispatchers received another call 12 hours about a man lying in a yard.

Officers responded and found the 56-year-old man dead at the corner of West Grand and Ferguson Avenue. On Monday, police confirmed that their homicide victim was the same man that reported the bike robbery.

A woman who lives in the neighborhood said, “I didn’t hear it. I was sitting inside this house by this window.” She said it may have been a small caliber gun.

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The woman did not want to be identified, but said she saw lots of officers and detectives blocking her street.

“That it’s ridiculous. That’s what I think. Think it is genuinely ridiculous. First, what do you need to kill a person for? What purpose would that serve?

Dayton Police have been working the case for about 40 hours. They returned to the scene with K-9s, looking for shell casings, anything that might provide a clue about who targeted this man and killed him.