Cold-case files: ex-Dayton police officer Kevin Brame

More than 13 years since Dayton Police Officer Kevin Brame was ambushed outside of his wife’s home, his slaying remains unsolved.

“For someone to plot a scheme this devious, these people are not good people, to put it mildly,” his mother Rosemary said Thursday in her Dayton home. “They need to be held responsible for what they did.”

Brame, 31, was shot in the back Nov. 1, 1999, outside of 624 Cherry Drive, the home of his estranged wife, Carla. Off duty at the time, he dropped off their two children and was returning to his car when he was attacked.

After suffering a shotgun blast to the back, Brame died in the driveway next to his Chevrolet Tracker.

Brame’s death has never faded into history, in part because of the efforts of his parents, Rosemary and her former husband Gerald, who have held vigils every Nov. 1. On Feb. 24, they will hold a bowling event in his name at Capri Lanes to fund a college scholarship for a student studying criminal justice. A $100,000 reward has been long advertised but remains unclaimed.

“His death still cries out for justice,” said Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl.

The Dayton Daily News and News Center 7 have started a continuing effort to investigate cold cases. This focus on the Brame case marks the first effort in what will be a recurring series on daytondailynews.com.

On Thursday, Attorney General Mike DeWine asked for help in the Brame case, which is his office’s spotlighted cold-case for the month of February.

The Brame case has been through several detectives during the past 13 years, but Dayton police have never publicly identified any suspects. In 2004, Dayton police raided a Trotwood home and questioned the man who lived there, C.D. McCoy.

McCoy, then 55 and a retired auto worker who said he had worked with Carla Brame at Delphi Corp., said police accused him of killing Brame for $2,000. McCoy told the Dayton Daily News that he had nothing to do with Brame’s death.

“I’m not worried about nothing, because I don’t know nothing and I ain’t did nothing,” McCoy said in 2004.

McCoy died in August, Rosemary Brame said. Carla Brame moved to Arlington, Texas soon after Kevin’s death with the two children.

Brame had recently moved into a bungalow in the Corpus Christi neighborhood. The weekend before his death, Brame and his mother had purchased used furniture to furnish the house. Every room was furnished but his bedroom, but Brame planned to sleep on the couch until he could borrow a bedroom set from his brother, his mother said.

“He told me that the last thing he needed to do was put a hoop on the garage so that he and the boys could play basketball,” she said. “He was on top of the world because his plan was for the boys to spend the first weekend, that next weekend, with him in that home. It never happened. He was murdered that Monday.”

Brame said she remains frustrated that more people haven’t come forward with information about her son’s homicide. She said she is certain that more than one person was involved in the planning of the crime, and that others have information they could share – but haven’t. But those people who have information should come forward and do the right thing, she said.

“The police department is not the only arm of law,” Brame said. “The citizens themselves need to take responsibility.”

Anyone with information about Brame’s slaying is asked to call Dayton Police at 937-222-STOP.

About the Author