A Dayton, Ohio, woman made a final, heartbreaking call to the father of her two children Sunday after being gunned down in a shooting rampage that killed nine and injured several other.
Lois Ogelsby, who went by Lola, was among the victims shot dead when gunman Connor Betts entered a crowded nightclub and opened fire just after 1 a.m. The deadly shooting unfolded less than 24 hours after a similar massacre claimed 22 lives at a shopping mall in El Paso, Texas.
Lois Oglesby (far right) leaves behind two children after being shot in the head during the shooting massacre in Dayton, Ohio on Sunday. (Photo: Daryl Lee / Facebook)
Olgesby’s boyfriend, Daryl Lee, recalled the tragic moment he learned that his girlfriend had been shot in the Dayton incident.
“She FaceTimed me and said ‘Babe, I just got shot in my head, I need to get to my kids,” Lee wrote in a Facebook post. “Like, that’s strong as f–k to hold off and call me!! She was letting me know she loved me and to take care of these kids.”
“I got you, babe,” he added. “I just can’t stop crying!!!”
According to the Dayton Daily News, Oglesby leaves behind a newborn baby girl and an older daughter Hannah, 6. Derasha Merrett, a close friend of the victim, said Oglesby was in nursing school and had recently returned from maternity leave.
“I was like, I’m so happy you’re back at work. Now I don’t have to worry about who has my newborn,” she told the newspaper. “She loves her kids unconditionally.”
Merrett said she was up feeding her own newborn at 3 a.m. when she got an emotional call from a friend who told her, through sobs, that “Lois got shot and she’s dead.”
“She was a wonderful mother, a wonderful person,” she added. “I have cried so much, I can’t cry anymore.”
Merrett said she and Oglesby grew up as cousins, attending the same church and performing on the same drill team. She said Olgesby, 27, even worked at her children’s day care.
“We all grew up in this little town,” said Merrett, remembering her friend. We’re all family. We’re all hurting behind this.”
Daven Davenport suffered a double loss in Sunday’s tragedy after losing two cousins: Oglesby and Thomas McNichols, 27.
“These were everyday working people that had families that cared about them, that had jobs, that had children,” Davenport said in an emotional interview with ABC affiliate WCPO, demanding that elected officials “do something” about the lax gun laws.
“People can just go and buy guns and not even be registered, or not even be qualified,” he added.
Growing more impassioned, the Ohio man made a desperate call for action and addressed President Donald Trump directly on the issue.
“My cousins did not deserve to lose their life,” Davenport said. “They had children. Hard-working people. All they were doing was enjoying a night on the town and they’re dead. Never to come home again. Never to see their family again. They’re gone. And I want the president to hear this. Donald Trump, I want you to hear this: You need to be here right now. You need to.”
An online fundraiser launched to help cover Oglesby’s funeral costs and support her children has since raised over $15,000.
Watch more in the video below.
