P.F. Chang's victim died of multiple gunshot wounds

The Montgomery County Coroner's Office ruled the death of the man fatally shot outside P.F. Chang's restaurant in Miami Twp. a homicide.

Autopsy results released Friday revealed Jermaine D. Boone, 41, of Los Angeles, died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Boone was killed at about 8:15 p.m. Wednesday in the parking lot of the Chinese restaurant at 2626 Miamisburg-Centerville Road near the Dayton Mall. A companion of Boone, Damon Thompson, 45, of Atlanta, was shot in the arm. He was treated and released from the hospital.

Within three hours of the shooting, police found the suspects' red 1994 single-cab Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck, abandoned at the Eagle Ridge apartment complex off Alex Bell Road in Moraine.

Police on Thursday continued to look for two male suspects and questioned the second victim, but released no other information.

"It seems to be, right now, another isolated incident of somebody had a reason that they felt they wanted to take action against another person," said Miami Twp. police Sgt. Jay Phares. "I could be wrong, but that's what it seems like right now."

"I was very shocked," Boone's mother, Lois, said by telephone. "It's usually teenagers that's involved in that and gangs and stuff like that. Usually you don't find adults involved in a violent act of crime like that. I was shocked about that. It's just unbelievable."

Lois Boone said she did not know why her son was in Dayton. She did not want to answer any other questions about him and said the focus should be on "the people that did it and find out why they did it."

The second shooting victim was interviewed by Miami Twp. police for a couple hours Thursday afternoon. Thompson declined to comment to a reporter when he left Miami Twp.'s police station.

"If he can answer some questions for us, that just gives the detectives new places to look," said Phares, who did not know the extent of Thompson's injuries.

P.F. Chang's has emergency procedures in place to ensure everyone's safety in case of emergencies and other incidents like Wednesday night's shooting, company official said in a statement.

"Our thoughts go out to the victims and families of this tragic incident," the statement said. "While none of our guests or employees were involved, we will continue to cooperate with local police in their investigation."

Boone had a criminal record and owed millions of dollars in civil penalties for illegally selling securities, according to California court records and a background check.

Documents from a California superior court indicate that Boone and another individual along with Monumental Funding Corp. pleaded no contest in 2008 to illegally selling securities.

The defendants were ordered to pay $2,971,922 in restitution to the state of California by 2023. If they defaulted on the judgment, they were also to be liable to pay $7 million in civil penalties. In October 2008, court documents indicate Boone and the co-defendants defaulted on the payments. A background check also indicates Boone was given probation for a 2012 felony possession of marijuana case in Texas.

Despite some high-profile incidents in the Dayton Mall area in the past year or so, Phares said the area is consumer-friendly.

"It's all unrelated," Phares said of a drug raid at Matt Castrucci's Auto Mall, a shootout between a suspect and Federal Bureau of Investigation officers and the homicide at P.F. Chang's. "It's been over a long period of time. When you figure out how many people come to this area and how safe it really is.

"Our police department is right here. Dayton Mall security is a great partner with us. They have our radio frequency and they scan us. We listen to their radio frequency."

Statistics obtained by the newspaper show violent crimes — homicide, rape, aggravated assault and robbery — in Miami Twp.'s business district has fallen in the past couple years. In 2012, there were nine robberies and two rapes reported. In 2013, there was one aggravated assault and four robberies. So far in 2014, there's been the one pending homicide and four robberies.

"Actually, I find the Dayton Mall safer than any of the other area malls that I've gone to," said Centerville's Beverly Reidy, who entered the mall Thursday across the parking lot from P.F. Chang's. "Usually I'm (here) in the daytime and there seems to be a lot of security that you can see around. I do not come back out in the evening or after dark."

Rachel Bower of New Lebanon had her young daughter with her as she shopped Thursday. "I don't worry about it too much," she said. "There's crime everywhere."

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