JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The mother of a 26-year-old man shot and killed Monday night said her son never judged people by the color of the their skin, but she said the man who killed him did.
Police said David Bouthillier (pictured below) was killed by 20-year-old Troy Sirmons after an altercation off Indian Lakes Court on the Westside. Family members say Sirmons called Bouthillier, who is white, a racial slur before he pulled the trigger.
"It just angers me with all that's going on in Jacksonville, hate and racism," said Lisa Bouthillier, David's mother. "There's no need to hate everybody because of skin color."
Bouthillier said her son treated everyone the same regardless of their race or ethnicity. It's one of the reasons why she said she'll never understand why someone could take his life.
"I don't hate anyone, I don't want anyone else's child to die. I just want justice for him," she said.
Bouthillier said David and his girlfriend, who is African-American, had been dating for a year, and both lived in an apartment complex on the Westside. Police said Bouthillier and his girlfriend were involved in a verbal argument outside the complex when Sirmons approached them to break it up.
At a news conference Wednesday, police didn't explain what was said, except to say that Bouthillier told Sirmons to mind his business.
Police said Sirmons later returned to the couple's house and shot the 26-year-old when he opened the door.
"Things like this to me are senseless," said Asst. Chief Chris Butler, of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. "You have an argument occurring and an individual who confronts, is unhappy about the argument, but the bottom line is, it doesn't give anybody a reason to return to the scene and knock on the door and kill somebody. There are other ways to handle these things."
Lisa Bouthillier said her son was misunderstood and didn't deserve to die.
"He was just a great guy, and he's not going to get to see his children grow up," she said. "And that was the last two things he said before he departed, and that was about his two children. And that just breaks all of our hearts."