Family, friends remember slain Middletown woman who was ‘one-of-a-kind’

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio (WXIX) - Those who knew Constance Reddix gathered Friday night at Talking Bull Saloon in Hamilton for the Middletown woman who died last week.

It was a party-like atmosphere in remembrance of Reddix, befitting the woman described by her sister, Kathy Hibbard, as “a kid at heart.”

“She was one-of-a-kind,” Kelly Booker, Reddix’s niece. “She sang like nobody was watching.”

There was music, food, raffles, pictures and memorabilia dedicated to the 61-year-old. Still, for her loved ones, the pain of her loss remained, and they say she didn’t deserve what happened to her.

“It hurts,” Hibbard said.

Police found Reddix’s body beaten beyond recognition inside a car on the lot of Midwestern Auto Sales in Middletown on March 14.

Darnell Dollar, 33, faces a murder charge in Reddix’s death after police say he hit her multiple times and dragged her down an alley.

The family says the two met at a homeless shelter in Hamilton and that the two only knew each other for a couple of months.

“He just acted like a normal person,” Booker said. “And I always told him just makes sure that you keep my aunt safe He’s a monster. He’s an evil, evil person.”

Reddix’s family remembers her as a woman who always saw the best in people and would give the shirt off her back to anyone in need.

“She just always did sweet gestures,” Booker said. “Anything that reminded her of someone, she would get it.”

Said Hibbard, “She loved her children, and she loved her grandchildren. She loved anybody’s kids... She was very giving, and very caring. Trusted too much.”

Reddix was a woman with a light they say far outshines the painful reality of her tragic death.

“She was the star of the show,” Booker said. “She’s up there having her own karaoke song right now.”

Dollar remains jailed on a $1 million bail bond.

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