Ellen Harrington won’t tell you her son was always the perfect child, or that he never gave his mother anything to worry about. She won’t say he wasn’t a handful.
But ask’and while she’s likely choke up trying to hold back the tears’Harrington might talk about the way Brian used to call every time a rap song called ‘Dear Mama? came on the radio.
His sentiments, he’d tell her, were the same.
And, unequivocally, she’ll say her son was a caring, helpful person?’a good friend to everybody.?
He was.
Brian Bailo, 31, died after he was shot during a broad-daylight robbery in the parking lot of a Pontiac take-out joint March 9, 2009.
Last week, finally, Harrington sat with family and watched as a jury found 19-year-old DeWayne Kawon Williams guilty of first-degree felony murder, armed robbery and two felony firearms charges. He faces a mandatory life sentence without parole, and will be sentenced May 13 in 6th Circuit Court.
‘There was no remorse,? said Harrington. ‘The only thing he was sorry for was that he got caught. It was all about ‘How much time am I going to get.??
The day he died, Bailo, a Lake Orion resident and owner of Lake Orion Landscaping, was in Pontiac working on a house he owned with his soon-to-be brother-in-law, Mike Rathnow.
Bailo and Rathnow were getting out of Bailo’s work truck and heading in to pick up some lunch at Great Wall Chinese Restaurant when Williams approached and demanded money.
Bailo said Williams would have to shoot him to get at his money.
Minutes later, sirens came blaring.
‘The had him on a ventilator,? Harrington said. ‘But he died in that parking lot.?
Harrington said she wasn’t surprised her son reacted to Williams the way he did.
‘People tried to rob him before,? she said. ‘Brian was 5?11, 240 pounds. He wasn’t some small little skinny dude. If you honestly needed something, he’d do anything to help — but he wasn’t going to give up his money for drugs or something like that.?
If nothing else, Harrington said she was glad Mike–who’s since married her daughter, was there for her son.
‘He held Brian as he died,? she said. ‘And I’m so thankful for the young man who was passing and saw Brian laying there with his head bleeding and followed that kid. He told the police where to find him.?
While the jury didn’t deliberate long last Thursday, Harrington said it felt like forever.
‘I did a lot of praying,? she said. ‘We waited and waited and waited and waited and waited. We were nervous. We were on needles and pins thinking they were deliberating.?
But by 2 p.m., the jury emerged with a decision. Guilty.
?(Williams?) sister came up to me in court’she was in tears,? Harrington said. ‘She told me ‘I’m so sorry my brother killed your son. I have kids at home and I can’t imagine what you’re going through.??
And to Harrington, those words mean something.
‘They talked about (Williams) being born to a drug addicted mother and all that,? she said. ‘But his sister turned out pretty good. It’s not like the whole family is bad.?
And for her, that — a person’s goodness — is paramount.
These days, she finds comfort in knowing who her son was: Brian helped everyone. He helped friends move, gave wood to a man who sold it’and depended on the income’every time he cut down a tree.
‘His customers,? Harrington said. ‘If they can’t afford it, Brian was going to help out. When it snowed he went and plowed for some senior citizens down the street. It was automatic. He just did it. He didn’t care if he got any money.?
He was a good kid, she said. An honest, good kid.
‘He touched a lot of people. If you needed something, all you had to do was ask’friends, parents of friends, it didn’t matter; he was always helping someone.?