EP. 130 OHIO - Mitchell Duckro: Killer or Hero?

We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects.

And most of the time, the person pulling the trigger is the bad guy.

But the question we will present to you in this story is when is taking a life justified?

In July of 2022, the DeCrow family in Sydney, Ohio had no idea that their lives were about to change.

It had been a seemingly normal summer.

But one day, after coming home from running errands, someone from their past would show up at their front door.

And Mitchell and Stacey DeCrow knew exactly who it was.

It was their daughter's ex-boyfriend, 22-year-old James Rail.

Through ring camera footage that we will play throughout this episode, you will hear the DeCrows tell James to leave several times.

But he doesn't.

And instead, he starts to break their door down.

After multiple warnings, Mitchell DeCrow aims the gun at the intruder and he shoots him three times, killing him.

This story sparked a lot of controversy not just in Ohio but all throughout the nation.

Some claim that Mitchell DeCrow is a murderer.

But others call him a hero who did what he had to do to protect his family.

So, this is their story.

I'm Courtney Brown.

It's an exciting time.

But it's also full of emotions, both good and bad.

And since our brains aren't fully developed, it can be pretty complicated and sometimes even toxic.

But unless you're high school sweethearts, there usually comes a time when you grow up.

A time where you realize you've outgrown your high school relationship and you're ready to move on.

Which is exactly what happened with Allison DeCrow in Sydney, Ohio.

She attended Fairlawn High School.

And throughout her time there, she had an on-and-off boyfriend named James Rail.

And like many high school relationships, it was pretty rocky.

The two would have fights and break-up, but they would always keep in contact and try to stay friends afterwards.

Which is never a good idea.

As we all know, staying friends with an ex usually just leads to getting back together again.

Which is exactly what happened.

Allison would later say that he was generally a nice guy, but they still weren't good for each other.

And although James was never physically abusive towards her,

he would text her some pretty damaging things like calling her worthless or saying no one will ever love you.

If you weren't in one yourself, you probably know someone that was.

But there usually comes a time where you finally realize that this relationship is no longer serving you.

For Allison, that came in 2019.

After years of back and forth with James, she decided to end it once and for all.

It definitely wasn't an easy decision for her, but she was ready to move on and cut ties.

And just to make sure he wouldn't come creeping back into her life like he always did,

she blocked him on all social media.

Like all through your high school years or after you graduated?

It started in high school and then it went out of high school.

Okay.

Just very briefly.

Okay.

On and off, were they bad breakups or just kind of?

No, we stayed friends every single time.

And when was the final breakup approximately?

I want to say maybe 2019 or 2020, I'm not positive.

Okay.

What caused that breakup?

He was just being a dick.

Okay.

Sorry.

No, I'm sorry.

We're all adults here.

You can say whatever you need to say.

He was just being rude all the time and I was just like, I don't want to grow up with him.

Was he ever abusive physically or mentally?

Well, maybe mentally a little bit.

He would just get in my head a bunch.

When he got mad, what kind of things?

Was he aggressive at all?

He would just tell me everything that was wrong with me.

He would say that nobody was going to love me anymore.

Stuff like that because he's a child.

Okay.

Would he scream those things to you?

No, it was all over text and everything.

He would never say it to my face, which...

Okay.

So you broke up in 2019.

Did you remain friends after that?

Not that last time, no.

I said I didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore after that.

Are you Facebook acquaintances or anything like that where you could have kept an eye on what you were doing?

I had blocked him off.

Everything that I could have.

Okay.

James even moved to California for a year and a half where he got really into fitness and working out.

But for whatever reason, James decided to move back home to Sydney, Ohio.

Allison knew he was back, but she had no intentions of rekindling their relationship.

And she made that pretty clear.

Um...

It was either the beginning of last year or the end of the year before.

Because my cousin had been living with us for a little bit.

Okay.

And him and my cousin were friends, so he came to pick him up.

And I told Clay, my cousin, I was like, hey, could you tell him that I'm not comfortable with him being over and everything.

He was like, yeah, that's fine.

And that was it.

But I never, like, personally said anything to him.

Right.

And according to his friends, after he moved back home from California, something was different about him.

Has he ever threatened anybody before?

Was he like a fighter?

I thought he was always very nice.

I mean, he worked out all the time.

I don't know.

I don't think he did any boxing or anything.

I don't know.

But, yeah, he was okay in high school.

But then after he came back from California, he just was different.

Like his close friends or whatever, he just started treating like crap.

And nobody wanted to deal with it.

She had heard things about him here and there from his friends, but that was it.

He was now just a distant memory, a person from her past.

So on the night of July 30th, 2022, she was not expecting a phone call from him.

The call came in pretty late at around 11.30 p.m.

And Allison was already asleep, so she missed it.

But the following morning when she woke up, she was surprised to see a voicemail from her ex.

So she pushed play, and this is what she heard.

It's James.

I just wanted to reach out to you because I just wanted to see how you're doing.

And maybe hear from you, if that would be all right, I guess.

It's been a while since I've talked to you.

I don't know.

I feel like it...

I don't know what I feel.

I do know that I do want to talk to you, though.

I do.

It'd be nice.

It'd be sweet.

It's probably late right now, but if you want tomorrow, you could probably give me a call.

And, uh...

Yeah, that's about it.

Please give me a call back.

Thank you.

She hadn't heard James' voice in over a year, and she didn't really know what to think of it.

Of course, she still cared about him, but she had finally moved on after years and years of going back and forth.

And after giving it some thought, she figured it was best not to open old wounds, so she didn't respond.

And hopefully, she thought by ignoring his voicemail, he would get the message that she wasn't interested and he'd leave her alone.

But sadly, that would not be the case.

He was born on February 25th, 2000, in Louisville, Kentucky.

And from what we could tell, he came from a very tight-knit family.

After spending eight years of his childhood in Kentucky, his family packed up and moved to Sydney, Ohio.

And from looking on Facebook, it's clear he was very close to his older sister, Jessica.

She would later write,

No one else knew a baby was in my belly growing in 2016 except for you until our family Christmas.

I remember going to the beach with you and us telling you about the wee little baby growing and that you were going to be an uncle.

You first said,

Wait, really?

Like I would really go so far as to make the shirts for Justin and I just to play a joke on James.

You were so excited. You couldn't believe it.

You kept saying you were going to be the best uncle and I believed it.

With a heart like yours, how could you not be?

Jessica also talked about how her brother had a heart of gold.

She said he would always send her random text messages just checking in on her, or just to say he was proud of her.

Many people in James' family had similar things to say about him, like how he cared deeply for people and always put others before himself.

Now, as for other aspects of James' life, there isn't a ton of information out there.

We do know that he went on to graduate from Fairlawn High School and Upper Valley Career Center,

which is a public vocational school that is designed to train students in a variety of skills.

And after graduation, he and Allison would continue to date for a short period of time, before she ultimately broke up with him.

And after spending some time in California, James came back to Ohio where he seemed to be living a normal life.

According to friends and family, he spent the majority of his free time working out, playing basketball, and lifting weights.

At the time, he was employed as a professional steelworker, where he had recently been working the third shift.

Now, Allison did say that throughout their relationship, James was known to dabble in drugs, but it was mostly acid and marijuana.

Gotcha. When did he come back? How long has he been back in town, do you know?

I want to say maybe a year.

So back then when you were dating him and kind of friends with him, acid was his...

Acid and weed and I don't know what else he did other than that.

Was he ever on meth or heroin or anything?

I don't know. I don't think he would have told me because he knew I didn't like it.

Right.

There were no signs of mental illness or any history of violence.

And yes, his friends said that his demeanor had changed since moving back.

But no one could have predicted the events that were about to unfold.

Allison Ducro decided to just ignore the message and go about her day.

She and her mom Stacy went out for breakfast that morning with a friend at the local Perkins restaurant in town.

Afterwards, they dropped the friend off and stopped by the local speedway before finally returning home at 2907 North Cuther Road.

By this point, it was 11 a.m. and nothing was amiss.

Allison and Stacy grabbed their things and make their way to the front door of their home.

The movement of them walking up initiates their ring camera to start recording.

So everything from this point forward is documented.

Now in the video, right as Allison and Stacy walk up to the front door, they hear a car pull into their driveway.

You see both of them turn their heads to look around and then they both go inside.

Now at first, neither of them recognized who had just pulled up to their home.

But they decided to lock the deadbolt just in case.

We will be posting this video on our Instagram and Patreon so if you want a visual make sure to head over there.

But here is the first few seconds of that audio.

Boy, in the house!

They even talk to their dogs as they unlock the door.

But moments after walking inside and locking the door, the ring camera captures a video of James Rayl approaching their home.

He's wearing a navy blue zip-up jacket, a beige t-shirt, black basketball shorts, and a blue baseball cap.

Now as he casually strolls up to the front porch, Allison can be heard in the background saying, quote,

He's coming back.

She also tells her mom that she doesn't want to talk to him.

So Stacy intervenes and she tells James, quote,

James, she doesn't want to talk to you.

But James doesn't seem to care.

And from here, without saying a word, he starts to ring the doorbell several times.

Here is the audio from that.

And it's here where the DeCrow family realizes that he's going to try and break in.

So fearing for her life, Allison calls 911.

Hello?

There's some guy on my front porch and he won't leave and he's got his hands behind his back and he won't answer me on the ring.

He left me a voicemail on my phone last night.

Where are you at? What's your address?

2907 North Kicker Road.

20.

Hold on, you said 2907?

He's trying to walk, I'm sorry, he's trying to walk.

He's on my porch.

James, no!

Oh my God, can you please hurry?

But he doesn't listen.

So from here, Mitchell walks to the family's garage to try and persuade James to leave the front porch and come talk to him.

But unfortunately, James continues to ignore Mitchell, appearing to be almost in a daze.

There's a blank look in his eyes, and again, he's not saying a word.

So from here, Mitchell walks to his bedroom and grabs a gun.

Meanwhile, James starts violently throwing his body against their front door.

He even tells him that he has a gun.

But that doesn't stop James from trying to get inside.

With each and every blow to their front door, he's getting closer and closer to breaking in.

The door frame began to split.

The glass started to crack.

And even though Mitchell is holding the door shut with his entire body, James is still somehow gaining entry.

So to protect his family, Mitchell aims the gun at James through the glass and quickly fires off three shots.

Here is that audio.

And here is that audio from Allison's 911 call.

Yeah?

Can you please hurry, please, please?

Yes, what is your name?

Allison Ducro.

Allison Ducro.

Where is the subject?

I don't know, I don't know where he is.

Did he run or is he still there?

I really don't know, ma'am, I'm hiding.

Okay, where is your dad?

He's at the front door holding it shut.

Do what?

And with each shot, James is turning his body away from the house.

But all three bullets hit him while he's still on the front porch.

Now, one of these bullets happened to hit him in the back since he was turning around, which we'll come up here in a little.

But after getting shot, James stumbles off the front porch and he collapses on the driveway, just out of the ring camera's frame.

Now, in the camera, you can still see his feet.

And after a few moments, James completely stops moving.

Back inside of the Ducro residence, both Stacy and Allison were screaming and distraught.

And at one point while Allison was still on the phone with 911, she could be heard thanking her father for saving her life.

He is shot?

He has been shot?

Ma'am, ma'am, I need you to calm down enough to tell me, has he been shot?

I think so.

I don't want to look.

Please don't make me look.

Has he been?

It's okay.

I can talk.

It's fine.

Okay.

I need to know if he's been shot or not.

I think, I believe so, yes.

I'm sorry.

Do we know who he is?

Yes, I'm sorry.

Yes, I know who he is.

No, no, no.

It's an ex-door friend?

Yes.

They're advising a male subject to have been shot.

I'm going to put squad on semi.

I'm so sorry.

I'm so sorry.

No, no, you're fine.

You're fine.

No, he's out of the window.

I'm so sorry.

Is he still on the ground out on the front porch?

Yes, yes.

And while they wait for them to arrive,

a neighbor named Jeffrey Hereford can be seen walking over to James' body

that's laying on the driveway.

Stacey then yells out to him,

He tried breaking into our house.

He was trying to hit our daughter.

But Jeffrey clearly didn't see James violently throwing his body

against the Ducroze door.

So he doesn't see James as a threat.

He what?

He's fine.

He don't have nothing.

What?

He don't have no gun.

Well, he's not moving.

He don't have a gun.

He broke our door in.

He's trying to get to our daughter.

Our dog is busting in.

I'm sorry.

Okay.

Hold on.

Did you shoot him?

Yes.

Okay.

Okay.

He's not moving.

He ain't going nowhere.

Oh, Jesus.

Yeah.

So we got in here.

He wouldn't leave.

We kept telling him to leave.

Yeah.

I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry.

Honestly, this is a, this is a, that's, I mean, was he dating her?

They dated a long time ago.

It was a long time ago.

I think, yeah.

He left her right now and left her to the left side.

Oh, my gosh.

Okay.

Calm down.

and they all stand around James' body.

And just by looking at him, it's clear that he's about to die.

Yeah.

He's shot.

He's shot.

He's dead.

He's dead.

He's dead.

This is it.

So he's got a hard time breathing right now.

I don't hear anything.

He's gone.

No, he ain't gone yet.

He's still breathing.

He's still breathing.

He's still breathing.

He's got a hard time breathing.

Man, stop staring at this man, bro.

the neighbors informed the officers that the man lying on the ground is dead.

It was obvious from one glance that James Rayl had succumbed to his injuries.

Here's the audio from when the officers pull up to the house.

He's dead.

He's got the gun.

Huh?

He's got the gun.

Inside the house.

He's got the gun.

If you pull inside here and stop this guy here who's trying to break into our house,

the guy's dead.

He died.

Where's the guy with the gun?

The guy's dead.

Right here.

Where's the guy with the gun?

Inside the house.

He's a homeowner.

And the guy was just basically protecting himself.

We're right here.

Okay, you guys have your gun now?

Yeah, we're right here.

22-year-old James Rail was already deceased.

Now, inside of the home, one of the officer's body cameras captured him trying to figure out exactly what had happened.

Here he is asking Allison about her relationship with the suspect.

So you've been split up for a couple years? When's the last time you've talked to him?

A couple years ago.

So there's been no communication for two years?

And then just out of the blue he started...

From here, the Shelby County Sheriff's Department taped off the area and covered James' body.

The scene was then processed for evidence.

The Sydney Police Department's captain, Jerry Tangeman, walked through the residence and took pictures of everything inside.

The gun used in the shooting was placed on top of the fireplace mantle, and there were three hollow .9mm spent cartridges on the floor inside of the living room.

It was also very clear to everyone investigating the scene that James had tried to break in.

There was no question about that.

The Ducros wooden front door was broken and splintered, and the door frame had completely detached from the wall.

But the most damning evidence of all was the ring camera footage.

Not only did it show James breaking in, but it also showed that both Mitchell and Stacey gave him multiple warnings before he was shot.

and the Ducros family was brought to the police station to give their statements.

During Stacey's interview, it was clear that she was very shaken up about everything that went down,

and she started by walking the investigators through everything that went down that day, starting with the voicemail.

Um, were you aware of that, or did your daughter say anything to you about that prior to this incident?

She, we were getting ready to leave to meet my friend for breakfast, and she said, um,

hey, remind me when we get, before we leave from Beth's house, I want to play you something.

I said, what is it?

She's like, a voice message.

And I said, what's it about?

I said, I asked her, I said, who's it from?

She goes, I'll just play it for you.

And then, so we left the house, drove to Beth's house, got in the car, sat in the car, and that's when she played it from James.

She played the voice message from James.

She told the detectives that she feared for her daughter's life as James broke their door down.

She said that the look on his face was terrifying, void of any emotion.

Even when Mitch said he looked around the corner and said, hey, you need to leave, James.

He said he didn't even acknowledge him.

And then when I was talking to him and watching him through the monitor, you know, watching him through the app,

he was just standing there with his hands like this behind his back, like this, and just standing there like this.

And not, not even, nothing, nothing.

I don't know.

She's not one, God love her, she's not one to give you a whole, a whole lot of information about stuff, you know.

But I know she just didn't want him around.