Brian Bailo, the 31-year-old Orion man slain in a Pontiac mugging gone wrong last week, will be remembered for his large, giving heart.
His mother, Ellen Harrington, recounts a story about how Bailo helped keep a promise after the death of her husband, Bailo’s step-dad Herman, last May.
Before succumbing to cancer, Herman told Ellen he would get her the dog she always wanted, a dachshund.
He never got the chance.
But it was her son who eventually brought Greta home a few months later.
‘He’s the one who went out and fulfilled that promise,? Ellen said.
Bailo was helping out his family up until the very end.
On March 9, at 11 a.m., he was getting his sister, Kelly Harrington, lunch at a Chinese restaurant in a Pontiac mini-mall with her fiance when he was shot in the head, his family said. He later died from the injuries.
Bailo was in the area working on a house he owned with his soon-to-be brother-in-law, Mike Rathnow.
Kelly said she called and asked the guys if they could get her lunch because she was too busy with work at a nearby office. Kelly added they she had frequently been to the mini-mall where the Chinese restaurant is located.
‘I’ve never been harassed there before,? she said.
Bailo and Rathnow were getting out of Bailo’s work truck when they were approached by the alleged suspect, 18-year-old DeWayne Kawon Williams.
‘It’s a beat-up truck with a snow plow on it, not a Mercedes,? Kelly said, wondering why they would be targeted in a mugging. Bailo owned and operated a local business, Lake Orion Lawn Care. ‘You could tell they’d been working. They had dry-wall dust all over them.?
Williams allegedly came at the two men and asked them for their money.
‘My brother refused. That’s when he shot him in the forehead,? Kelly said. ‘He then decided to go through his pocket’s, to go through his belongings.?
According to Pontiac police, officers were dispatched to the mini-mall at 600 block of Auburn Road and found Bailo lying in the parking lot with a single gunshot wound to the head.
Witnesses informed police where the suspect had fled and what he was wearing.
Police quickly caught up with Williams, who tried to run, but was eventually apprehended at a nearby apartment complex.
The weapon was not immediately recovered, but police said they did find some of Bailo’s belongings on the suspect.
Bailo was taken first to POH Regional Medical Center in Pontiac, then to the Detroit Medical Center, where he died at 2:35 p.m. the same day.
‘We never left him. We weren’t leaving him,? Ellen said. ‘It didn’t matter if he was dead or not. It was a nightmare. It still is a nightmare. We can’t wake up.?
Now, a large network of family and friends mourn the loss of Bailo.
He is survived by his parents, Ellen Harrington and Kent (Cindy) Bailo of Ortonville; brothers Brenton (Claudia) Bailo; sisters Laura (Scott) Bailo and Kelly (Mike) Harrington; step-brother Kenneth Harrington; step-sisters Kim (Mark) Goetz and Paula (Shane) Plutter; grandparents Doric and H.C. Arms and Janice Brightman; and his girlfriend, Nikki, and her son, Dom.
Nikki said she and Brian dated for a week in middle school, and then got together for good in 2005.
Bailo’s family said he was like a father to Dom.
‘He was the best man in the world,? Nikki said. ‘I’m lost. Incomplete.?
The murder’s aftermath has taken a toll on the family, Ellen said.
‘Why didn’t they take someone who was a creep? Why did they have to take someone so generous,? Ellen said. ‘He lived life to the fullest. He had a good heart.?
They are also seeking justice.
‘We don’t want this guy out on the streets again,? Kelly said.
Williams was arraigned on March 11 at the 50th District Court in downtown Pontiac on homicide and armed robbery charges.