OPD still investigating fatal shooting

The Odessa Police Department is still investigating a Sunday shooting that left a 20-year-old man dead.

No one has been charged in the shooting. OPD reported that the victim, 20-year-old Jerrod Dement, was shot multiple times by 25-year-old Zane Womack after reportedly forcing his way inside Womack’s apartment.

OPD was first called about the shooting by Womack around 2 a.m. Sunday at the Sunset Lodge Apartments, 7701 Highway 191.

Dement’s brother, Justin Dement, said he had just moved to Odessa in January for a job with an oil company.

Dakota Estell, who was Dement’s girlfriend of four years, said she couldn’t believe it when she heard how he had died.

“He was a great guy,” Estell said. “He knew how to make everybody laugh. He had the biggest smile no matter what. He loved making everyone smile and didn’t care what people thought about him.”

Karen Dement, the victim’s mother, flew to Odessa Tuesday to gather her son’s belongings.

“When will this pain of continuing ache stop,” Karen Dement wrote in a public Facebook post. “I’m tired my heart is broken and I’m seeing no light at the end of the tunnel.”

Justin Dement said he believes there is more to the story.

“Jerrod’s never been a criminal. He’s never robbed anybody or stole from anyone,” Justin Dement said. “This isn’t something Jerrod would do, regardless of how drunk he was.”

Justin Dement described his brother as someone who would protect other kids from bullying in school.

“He was one of the most heartwarming kids that you’ll probably ever meet,” he said. “He was friends with everybody and he seemed somehow to connect to everybody in some way with an interest he had in himself.”

The case is still currently being investigated by OPD.