HIGHLAND COUNTY, OH - A father of two was run over and dragged in front of his son after saving a woman from being strangled by her ex-boyfriend at a gas station.
The suspect, 22-year-old Javen Meadows, has been charged with strangulation and assault in connection with the May 31 confrontation, Law & Crime reported. Meadows allegedly followed his ex-girlfriend to a Holtfield gas station and then attacked her after ramming the woman's vehicle.
Police said Meadows went over to his ex-'s vehicle and grabbed her by the throat, strangled the woman and threw her to the ground. Once on the ground, he continued to punch and kick her. In was in that moment when Billy Grooms attempted to intervene.
"He went to intervene and asked the boy to let her go, and in turn, the boy jumped in his truck and ran Billy over," says Angela Osborn, sister-in-law of Grooms, who later died at the hospital after being placed on life support. "We're still trying to wrap our mind around the fact his life is gone for saving a young girl who was being strangled.
Grooms was with his son when he went over to Meadows during the attack and got him off the woman, police said. "That's who Billy was," Amy Grooms, Billy Grooms' wife, said. "He wasn't a very social person, but the people that knew Billy knew he was compassionate; he cared."
Meadows allegedly hopped in his Ford F-150 pickup truck after Grooms stepped in to intervene and ran Grooms over. "He just went straight towards my husband and hit him and dragged him," Amy Grooms said.
Grooms suffered multiple broken bones and a severe brain injury. He was airlifted to a local hospital and placed on life support; his family removed him last week. "We were trying for hope," Amy Grooms says. "If we could try to intervene to stop the swelling, but then within days, he was declining."
Grooms' lifesaving efforts didn't end at the gas station. He donated his organs to at least five people following his death. "If he would have lived through this, I would have said, 'I love you, babe and you did what was right and what your heart wanted,'" Amy Grooms says. "He would have stepped in for anybody."
The ex-girlfriend was grateful for Grooms heroic actions. "I believe Billy was a hero. I believe his actions saved my life. I'll carry that gratitude with me forever," the ex-girlfriend said. A GoFundMe was set up to help support Grooms' family and has reached over $44,000 in donations.
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