San Antonio – A San Antonio mother is speaking out after her son, a semi-pro football player, was gunned down as a result of helping someone in need on Easter.
That football player, Eddie Ray Bailey Jr., played for the Leander Wolfpack.
“He was a good man,” said Suquelia Williamson, his mother. “He was fun to be around. He had many friends and he loved football. Football was his life. He would drive to and from Austin for games. I was his biggest fan. He would end every game by getting his daughter from the stands.”
She said his personality spoke volumes.
“He loved music,” Williamson said. “He was a happy kid all his life. He sang. He danced. He was a goofball at times but he was very kind hearted. He would give you his last.”
Sadly, someone took advantage of Bailey’s giving heart Sunday.
“The girl he was with told me they were in a dog park near his home walking their dog when he saw someone popping pills on a bench,” Williamson said. “He learned that person was trying to commit suicide so he and his lady friend talked him down and befriended him. She said my son invited him over and they were talking and making music with his equipment.”
Williamson said later, Bailey made an unfortunate discovery.
“All of my son’s stuff was stolen,” Williamson said. “His music equipment, his X-Box, his PlayStation, and his cellphone.”
She said that is when his friend used an app to ping his cellphone.
“They located where the phone was and my son filed a police report,” Williamson said. “The girl then drove him to the location.”
SAPD: Man, 29, dies after being shot in chest at West Side home on Easter
San Antonio police released a statement saying Bailey got out of the vehicle and brandished an assault rifle. That’s when the suspects began to fight him, eventually taking the weapon. Police added one of the suspects, who had a handgun, shot Bailey in the chest.
“I know my son,” Williamson said. “He doesn’t even own a weapon. His friend he was with told me and the police that he never had a gun. She told them she had a gun in the trunk of her car and when the four guys came from the back of the home and jumped on him and started beating him up, they jumped on her as well. She got loose, supposedly, and went and got the gun out of the trunk of her car but by then they shot my son. My son didn’t have a weapon so why would you shoot him?”
Williamson said she is frustrated because police have told her the shooting could be ruled self defense.
“My son got shot twice, close-blank range,” Williamson said. “He didn’t have a gun on him. He didn’t have a gun in his hand. So why did he end up dead. I don’t understand. The police report indicated everything they had stolen from my son but that is it? So they get away with stealing from my son and killing him. That is not fair. I think they saw my son, saw how big he was and jumped on him and he fought with his bare hands.”
She said her last time speaking with her son was Saturday.
“He said, ‘Ma, you doing good?’ I said, ‘Yes, I am doing good. I am getting my injection for my Multiple Sclerosis.’ He said, ‘I know, I saw you post it on Facebook. I love you ma.’ I said, ‘I love you too,’” Williamson said. “That was the last time I spoke to my son.”
Williamson said it was heart-wrenching getting the call.
“They just said he was shot and he was on his way to BAMMC,” Williamson said. “I got to the hospital and gave them my name and his name and they took me to a room and the chaplain came in. I knew right then that my son was gone because there was no way a chaplain was coming in before a doctor.”
Dondrae Williamson, Bailey’s stepfather, has raised him since he was four-years-old.
“He was a strong little guy,” Dondrae Williamson said. “I remember helping his mom move and we literally moved the entire house over, furniture and all, just me and this 5-year-old.”
Bailey’s strength gave him the nickname Popeye. Dondrae Williamson said it is numbing to think he is no longer here.
“It is difficult,” Dondrae Williamson said. “People got to understand that guns and violence is not the way to solve issues. These kids got to understand they have to be responsible. There is so much going on in this world. This has got to stop. We are losing innocent lives for nothing. It is senseless. It is ridiculous. It makes you want to cry. It makes you want to get angry. You are all over the place. That was my guy.”
Bailey is now the second child they have lost.
“We lost his sister on Christmas Eve to cancer,” Suquelia Williamson said. “That was different because I had time to process her death. I had time to prepare. A mother can not prepare for her son to be killed this way. A mother doesn’t have time to deal with and process that your son has been shot. Your son is dead within less than an hour. No mother can prepare for that.”
Bailey made his jersey number 24 in honor of his sister. His family wants answers.
“He had a 7-year-old son and his daughter will be 5 this year,” she said. “She will never get to walk down the aisle for her wedding with him. He will never be able to do daddy/daughter dances or anything. They took that away from them. They will have to grow up without their father.”
Police detained four people but no arrests or charges have been made.
Williamson said she understands it will be a difficult road ahead, but she will continue to fight for justice for her son.
“Anybody who knew my son knew that what police are saying was not my son,” Williamson said. “My son would not carry a gun going to look for trouble. My son was lovable. He loved football. His life was football. His life was his kids and his family. If I have to take them to civil court for everything they got until they die, I will. My son is dead. He is never coming back. He is never coming back to me and they are not going to walk out of here free for what they did to my son.”