ROCKINGHAM — A five-year nightmare is finally over for Dustin Braddock.
He’s had to relive the fateful phone call he received at 2:25 a.m. Feb. 7, 2016 informing him that his father, Joe Braddock, had been shot.
The man responsible for his father’s death, Rufus Alexander Helton, agreed to a last-minute plea deal of voluntary manslaughter Friday afternoon prior to the jury returning a verdict.
Helton had been indicted on a count of first-degree murder.
The incident occured on U.S. 74 Business, near the entrance to West Rockingham Elementary School.
Joe Braddock had been a volunteer with Cordova Fire and Rescue and a helmet and fire jacket adorn a cross marking the location where he died.
Braddock said he was eating lunch Friday when he got the call from the district attorney’s office saying that Helton wanted to make a deal.
“We said if he would take the maximum for manslaughter, we’d agree to it,” Braddock told the RO in a telephone interview Friday afternoon.
According to the deal, Helton will serve 64-89 months in prison.
“Five years ago, we wanted a different outcome,” Braddock said, but added that, all in all, the family is satisfied and has closure.
“Now we can close that book in our lives, knowing that we did get a little justification for my dad,” Braddock said.
This was the second time Braddock and his family — as well as Helton and his family — have had to relive the experience, as the first go-round ended in a mistrial in 2019.
(Disclosure: RO Managing Editor William R. Toler was called to testify as a witness for the first trial and was on the list for the recent trial.)
Braddock said he has been trying to become a better person over the past two years.
“After it was over, I walked up to him (Helton) and shook his hand and told him I forgave him … and would be praying for him,” Braddock said.
He added that he was still upset, but “nothing will bring my daddy back.”
“We finally got some closure,” Braddock said. “It’s done.”
