R.I.P Chris Mclellan

Volusia County sheriff's investigators are searching for an Osteen man accused of shooting another Osteen man to death in the parking lot of the Sunoco on State Road 415. A warrant was issued Saturday afternoon for David Jerome Wright Jr., 31, charging him with first-degree murder in Friday night's killing of Christopher Joseph Mclellan, 24. "We know they knew each other, but we don't know what the connection is," sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said Saturday. "We don't know what sparked the (fatal confrontation)." Shortly after 7 p.m., Mclellan was pumping gas and talking to a friend -- one of five unnamed witnesses -- when Wright screeched into the parking lot, jumped out of his black Ford truck and yelled "What's up, punk" to Mclellan, according to the account given to investigators. Wright then pistol-whipped the witness and started firing shots. The witness, who ran in fear, turned around to see Mclellan stagger and fall to the ground, according to the sheriff's report. Other witnesses told investigators Wright chased Mclellan around Mclellan's friend's truck and Mclellan ended up mortally wounded by the passenger side of his own car. "The suspect fired the last rounds into the victim while standing over his body," Davidson said in a written report. Mclellan was transported by EVAC ambulance to Florida Hospital Fish Memorial in Orange City where he was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival.

This is what was posted on the obituary card:

Safe in the Keeping of God:
I am home in heaven, dear ones: Oh, so happy and so bright! There is perfect joy and beauty in this everlasting light. All the pain and grief are over! Every restless yearning past; I am now at peace forever, safely home in heaven at last. Dear one, do not grieve so sorely, for I love you dearly still; Try to look beyond earth's shadows, pray to trust our father's will. When your work is completed, he will gently call you home; Oh, the rapture of that meeting! Oh, the joy to see you come!

My personal thoughts:
On December 1, 2008 my brother just turned 24 years old. As he wieghed heavy on my mind as he normally does I felt the strong urge to make it a point and wish him a happy birthday. Around 8 a.m. I did. I got on myspace and wrote him a message. Many thoughts of what I was going to say ran through my mind, but it was his birthday and I said to myself that I would not bitch at him for not keeping in touch or bitch at him for not coming around or bitch at him telling him to keep himself out of trouble. I just simply stated Happy Birthday and I love you and to add me as a friend. If I had known that would have been the last time I would have said anything to him at all, I probably would have went into detail about how much I loved him and offered him to come stay with me until he got enough money to get his own place. "If only I would have" is what I keep repeating in my mind.

Only four short days after that I recieved a phone call around 7:30 p.m. from Pris, my sister in law stating that my brother had been shot! Because I have three brother's, I then asked her what brother and she told me it was the Chris who is the youngest out of the three. I then said well, where did he get shot and she said "at the Sunoco." I said no where at in his body and she stated to me that he had been shot five times and he was being transported to the hospital in Orange City. I must have been in shock because it really didn't sink in what she had said until I got half way to the hospital. I rushed to get my eight month old son dressed and Kris (my fiancee) and I left. It takes me over an hour to get to where he was at and half way their the air became very heavy and it felt as if the world had stopped in time and then it hit me that my brother was dead. I just knew that he was dead.

When I arrived at the hospital my Uncle Bobbie was standing outside with my cousin Shantel. I barely remember anything at this point except the questioned that I had feared the most to ask and that was "is my brother dead?" I remember walking into the room where my family was and everyone was crying so hard and I said "NO, NOOOO this is not true." I'm pretty sure that as I stood their and held my mother she died in my arms that night as well. Even though her body still exist with us I think her soul is in heaven with my brother. The killer did not only kill my brother that night he had killed all of us in some way or another.

On December 12, 2008 we all laid my brother to rest. We said our very last words to him. I kissed his frozen lifeless body good bye and told him I loved him with every beat of my heart and with every breath of air I took I loved him and I would miss him more than ever and that I was sorry so, so sorry. As they were closing the casket their was nothing more in this world that I wanted to do than crawl into the casket and have them close it on me too. On December 11, 1976 a murderer was born. On December 5, 2008 an angel was born. On December 12, 2008 David Jerome Wright Jr. was arrested for first degree murder of my brother Christopher Joesph McLellan.

It has been almost four months since my brother's murder. My family has been through a lot. After his death my mother, father, and brother started to attend church. Which in my father's case that was a total shocker. My father has had his ups and downs in life and probably more downs than up's, but he suffer's from the disease we all know as, alcoholism! My mother is constantly beating her self up. She say's that she should have done more for him or she should have been a better mother. She is letting the guilt take total control of her and slowly take her life. The more she hurts, the more she drinks. The more she drinks, the more she smoke's. In one way or the other I believe that she will eventually die from cancer or sorosis of the liver. Not only my mother, but my father too.

When my brother died, it felt as if I died. I am starting to focus on my family and clean my house and finally getting back into the routine of things. I really have no memory of anything that has gone on around me for the last four months. I have missed nearly four months of my sons life. It hurts everday still. I cry everday still. I'm angry and then I'm sad and then I'm numb. I'm mostly numb to the pain now, but it will happen at any second when he pop's into my mind and it hits me like a ton of bricks. That's when it hurts the most. I will continue to write about my brother's death and what happens with David Wright at trial. To be continued.......................