STAFFPRD, Va. β The parents of Michael Dodge II are struggling to understand why their 35-year-old son was shot and killed while doing his job as a property contractor in Fredericksburg.
"You killed my son for nothing. You killed him for nothing," Lea Dodge said. "He was a good human, and I would hope that anything that anybody gets from this is. Go out into the world and remember to be a good human."
Dodge was working as a contractor for mortgage companies, according to his father Michael William Dodge.
"For foreclosures and abandoned properties where he would, if the property was broken, he would go secure it," Michael William Dodge said in an interview with WUSA. "If the property had to have some minor repairs, he would do the repairs."
On Tuesday, Oct 21, Dodge's company sent him to a home on Mountain View Road in Fredericksburg to re-secure the home and change the locks, his father said.
When he arrived, he was confronted by a man inside the property.
The man pulled a gun on his son, according to his father.
"He was attempting, from my understanding, he was attempting to back away and there was gunshots," his father said.
Coworkers called 911 and police responded to find Dodge dead in the driveway.
After a brief standoff, 64-year-old Donald Thomas, who was inside the home, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
"This person has destroyed a lot of people, a lot of people by killing my son," Michael William Dodge said. "He was loving, giving, protective of his family. Just overall, just a great son to have."
Dodge's mother had a message for the man accused of killing her son.
"You're not in your house. My son's not alive. Nobody got anything they wanted. And for what? For literally nothing. You took my son from me," she said.
The grieving parents said they've received tremendous support from the community. The family says many people have reached out wanting to help. They're asking people who want to donate to instead give to Wounded Warriors or the Stafford SPCA in their son's name.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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