For the family of Jonathan Price, the arrest of Wolfe City Police Officer Shaun Lucas, who is now facing a murder charge, came as a relief.
“My son got life, I want him to get life,” Price’s mother Marcella Louis said. “I want to see him have justice, to feel the pain I’m feeling.”
Price’s mother said she felt grateful for the support her family has received since her son was shot and killed Saturday night. According to the family, Price had just broken up a fight when Lucas first tased him and then shot him.
“He was like my own son, that’s basically the way I could put it, he was like my own son,” said Allan Malone, whose son Jason grew up with Price.
Malone, like many, said he was in disbelief when he heard what happened.
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Malone remembered Price as a kind, polite and easy-going kid, who grew up to be an adult who was a role model for his younger children and someone everyone in the community respected.
“You couldn’t ask for a better person to have around your house and your younger kids to grow up around because he was just an all-around good person,” Malone said. “We lost a son, we lost a pillar of the community, a great person to learn from.”
Dale Trompler remembered the last time he heard from Price. He’d been working out during quarantine and it didn’t go unnoticed.
“We went to Florida and he saw some pictures of me on the beach and that’s when he texted back to me that I didn’t look too bad for an old man,” Trompler said.
The next call he’d get about Price would be the news of his death.
“It’s just one of those things where you go through the emotions of shock, disbelief, just wanting answers,” Trompler said. “And then just a wave of grief that I’ve not felt in many, many years.”
Trompler was the head football coach and athletic director at Wolfe City High School during Price's time as a student. He spent hours on the field watching him grow as an athlete and young man.
However, his bond with Price started many years earlier when Price showed up at his front door.
“And he shows up, just this little bitty kid and he’s got these tears rolling down his face,” Trompler said. “And his finger was dislocated, and he just held up his hand to me with this look of please help me.”
Now Price’s name is in headlines for a reason he never would’ve guessed.
“You kind of waver back and forth between wanting to get answers and at the same time realizing that those answers are not going to bring back that smile,” he said.
Trompler said, more than anything, he wished he had more time. Time to tell the young man who showed up at his door many years ago how he feels.
“How proud I am of what he turned out to be and I love him,” he said.
A funeral service for Price is planned for Saturday at the high school football field in Wolfe City.
