‘She was one-of-a-kind’: Family and friends remember woman found beaten to death

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (WXIX/Gray News) - Family and friends gathered to remember a 61-year-old woman who died last week after she was allegedly beaten by a man she knew.

Those who knew Constance Reddix gathered at Talking Bull Saloon in Middletown Friday night. Amidst music, food, raffles, pictures and memorabilia dedicated to the woman, there was also mourning for her loved ones at her loss.

Authorities said they found Reddix’s body beaten beyond recognition inside a car on the lot of Midwestern Auto Sales in Middletown on March 14.

Police arrested 33-year-old Darnell Dollar and charged him with murder in Reddix’s death. They said he hit Reddix multiple times and dragged her down an alley.

Reddix’s family said she met him at a homeless shelter in Hamilton. The two reportedly only knew each other for a few months.

Kelly Booker, Reddix’s niece, said Dollar seemed like a normal person.

“I always told him, ‘Just make sure that you keep my aunt safe’,” she told WXIX. “He’s a monster. He’s an evil, evil person.”

Reddix’s family said they remember her as a woman who always saw the best in people and would give the shirt off her back to anyone in need.

“She just always did sweet gestures,” Booker said. “Anything that reminded her of someone, she would get it.”

Reddix’s family said she didn’t deserve what happened to her.

“It hurts,” Kathy Hibbard, Reddix’s sister, said.

Hibbard said Reddix was “a kid at heart.”

“She loved her children and she loved her grandchildren,” Hubbard said. “She loved anybody’s kids. She was very giving, and very caring. Trusted too much.”

Booker said her aunt was “one-of-a-kind.”

“She sang like nobody was watching,” she said.

Reddix’s family said she was a woman with a light that far outshines the painful reality of her tragic death.

“She was the star of the show,” Booker said. “She’s up there having her own karaoke song right now.”

Dollar was jailed on a $1 million bond.

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