MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- A young father and veteran of the U.S. Air Force was shot and killed Sunday morning outside an IHOP restaurant in Tennessee.
Memphis police said the man, identified by family members as 27-year-old Devin Wilson, was killed while breaking up a domestic violence incident.
"He had a big heart, and it was his big heart that unfortunately led him to his deathbed," said Katina Rounds, Wilson’s mother. "I wasn't surprised when they said just trying to help somebody -- a woman being attacked."
Wilson died while defending a stranger who was allegedly being choked and beaten by her ex-boyfriend. The ex-boyfriend, who was not identified, shot Wilson, according to authorities.
Mother's Day will never be the same for Rounds. Instead of celebrating with her outgoing, middle son on Sunday, she was grieving over his death.
"Having to come here and explain to his 6-year-old child that sees everybody here and sees people crying, and she keeps saying, 'Tina what's wrong with everybody?' And we're waiting on her mom to get here so we can tell her she's never going to see her daddy again alive," Rounds told Fox13Memphis. "The last conversation she had with him was the last conversation she will ever have. How would anyone feel? But unfortunately so many people are dealing with that every day."
Memphis police are searching for the man who shot and killed Wilson.
"He just didn't have to kill my baby. He didn't have to kill him. Every day we hear on the news about gun fire. Somebody getting shot. Somebody shooting. It's just such a norm," Rounds said. "Nowadays people put such low value on life itself. They're taking lives as if they are stepping on a bug."
Wilson was not the only person shot at IHOP. A security guard was also hit but did not die from his injuries.
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