Deadly home invasion on Hilltop unsolved

Nearly two years after her son was killed during a home invasion on the Hilltop, Joan Gresson hopes that someone can provide her with closure by helping police solve the crime.

An intruder fatally shot David Lee Hodge, 35, of the Near East Side, on Oct. 27, 2016. Today, police are asking for the public’s help in solving the crime.

Gresson dropped her son off at a two-story house in the 100 block of Columbian Avenue early that afternoon to visit friends. Hodge had recently broken up with his girlfriend and was upset, Gresson said.

A few hours later, Gresson received a call from one of the women he had met there.

“She called me and said something happened in the house,” she said. “She thought Dave had gotten shot and killed. I said, ‘What?’”

Gresson drove to Mount Carmel West hospital, where her son had been taken, and she found, to her horror, that he had already died of his wounds.

According to police, two unidentified people had barged into the Columbian Avenue house that evening after breaking windows on the first floor. The two charged up to the second story and were confronted by Hodge and another person.

One fatally shot Hodge before both of the intruders Hodge fled in a silver car that resembled a Nissan Rogue compact crossover, police said.

A woman in the house at the time of the shooting called 911 and described the home invasion to a dispatcher. She said a man in a black hoodie had broken in and ordered her into her room at gunpoint, and then had run up the stairs to the second floor.

At least five gunshots can be heard as the woman talks to a dispatcher.

Hodge was pronounced dead at the hospital at 9:20 p.m.

Gresson fought back tears when she answered questions about her son in an interview Wednesday.

“He was a good friend who would do anything for you,” she said. “He had a smile that brightened up the room.”

Hodge worked in construction, helped with odd jobs around the neighborhood, and spent much of his spare time with his three daughters, who range in age from 9 to 16, Gresson said.

She frequently dropped the three girls off at her son’s house, Gresson said.

“He spent all day with them,” she said.

Anyone with information on the home invasion can call 614-461-TIPS (8477) or submit a tip online at stopcrime.org. Tips can be submitted by downloading a free application called P3 Tips onto a smartphone. Tipsters remain anonymous. The Columbus Police Homicide Unit also accepts calls at 614-461-4730.