Family of slain intruder baffled but understanding

Originally ran here as:
"Family of slain intruder baffled"
Saturday, June 9, 2001
Bruce Cadwallader, Columbus Dispatch Staff Reporter

A father of four with no known criminal record was identified yesterday as the robbery suspect killed Thursday at a South Side home.

The family of the suspect, Robert F. Wilson Jr., 29, said yesterday they had no explanation for his actions. The unemployed father had missed his daughter's middle-school graduation ceremony Thursday to meet a buddy, they said.

Wilson was shot and killed about 11:30 p.m. when he forced his way inside 1718 S. 20th St. with a gun, Columbus police said.

An alleged accomplice fled through a rear door before Wilson was shot, residents at the Lincoln Park apartment told police.

Wilson was shot by Charles Daniels Sr., 46, who was visiting his son when the robbery occurred.

Daniels was questioned by officers but is believed to have acted in self-defense, police said. He told investigators that he fired to protect those in the apartment, including three children.

Daniels has declined to comment.

One of the occupants said Wilson forced her at gunpoint to take him around the apartment to look for money and jewelry. He had been given a stash of money when Daniels shot him.

A search warrant filed in Franklin County Municipal Court by police yesterday showed that $1,000 in cash, a pistol, a rifle, a shotgun and ammunition had been taken from the bedroom where Wilson was found dead. People inside the home said they had stored $6,000 under a blanket there.

Homicide Lt. Mary Kerins said police had no record of Wilson.

"He didn't even have a jaywalking ticket. He never took anything in his life,'' said Wilson's mother, Brenda, surrounded by relatives at her East Side apartment. "He called me every day just to check on me, but I didn't hear from him on Wednesday.''

Wilson's wife, Kim, said he called her Thursday to say he had made other plans and would not attend the ceremony for his 10-year-old daughter, Shanae. Police notified the family late Thursday about his death.

Wilson's oldest sister, Angela Packer, said police and the family want to know more about the alleged accomplice.

"He might have been put up to this to go look for weed,'' Packer said of her brother.

Wilson most recently worked two months as a custodian at Ohio State University. Funeral arrangements were incomplete yesterday.