Uncle mourns after adult nephew shot dead in Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky – Dewayne DeBerry is still trying to process what happened to his nephew in the California neighborhood on Wednesday night.

“As I was putting the pizza down, I heard a bam-bam,” he said.

Deberry said he believes two ricocheted bullets smashed through his front door on Grand Avenue and killed his nephew, 52-year-old Robert William Crosson, who was at home watching old Michael Jordan basketball highlights on television.

After DeBerry heard the shots, he immediately ran into the living room.

“He was already gone, there was nothing I could do,” he said. “I could look at him and I knew he was dead.”

He said police told him the shots were fired from a long distance.

“They said the shots came from down there because they came up here that same night and looked around. When they got up there, they didn’t find any shell casings,” DeBerry said.

He said he and Crosson had a unique bond. They grew up together and were always laughing and joking.

“He was like my little brother because he was about 10 years younger than me. You know, to me it feels like my brother is gone,” DeBerry said.

He said Wednesday night’s tragedy still doesn’t make sense. He doesn’t know who fired the shots, but he cherishes memories of his nephew.

“The two of us always had great debates, we talked about sports and other things that we debated, almost argued about,” DeBerry said.

He and other family members are demanding justice in this case.

“He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and I guess the Lord wanted him to go home,” DeBerry said.

The family plans to hold a memorial service for Crosson soon.

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