(MOBILE, Ala.) - The 92-year-old mother of a murder victim in Mobile said she was at her son's home when he was murdered by his soon-to-be ex-wife and her son.
Adina D'Aversa's 70-year-old son John was found shot to death in his home on Saint Jude Circle earlier this week.
His stepson, Keenan Olson, is now charged with his murder.
The family told LOCAL 15 News D'Aversa's estranged wife cleaned out their bank account before he died. John D'Aversa had been recovering from a heart attack he suffered just weeks earlier.
D'Aversa's family said John had separated from Carolyn for taking the money, and even got police involved in the incident. They said they know Olson and her son had come back to the house to kill him.
"She was asked to stay away from the house," John's daughter Tina D'Aversa said. "From what I'm told, Carolyn and Keenan went to the house, and they went under the pretense that they were going to be taking a television out of the house."
Adina D'Aversa said Keenan Olson, the man charged with her son's murder, looked nervous when he walked in the door. She had been making dinner in the kitchen.
"They came in, and she said she wanted the TV," Adina said.
"Carolyn was going to get the television out of the back bedroom, apparently," Tina said. "My grandmother said she went to the back bedroom, my dad went with her."
The family said Keenan had followed them in to the back bedroom moments later.
"All of a sudden I heard three shots," Adina said. "Oh my God I start to scream and holler. She said, 'I shot him. I shot him. I killed him. I killed him."
"Why would you kill him? Why would you kill him," Tin said. "Walk away, leave, I mean call the police, do something. Don't go there."
Tina said it has been difficult as she has not been able to say goodbye to her father. As the investigation plays out, she said they will do what "Pop" would have wanted them to do.
"We just want to celebrate because that's what he would have wanted us to do, and to try to get past how horrifically he died," Tina said.
"He was a good man," Adina said. "Everybody loved my son. He's got a friend all over."
The family said John D'Aversa was best known for his selfless nature. He spent much of his free time building homes for Habitat For Humanity, and helping out through his church.
"He has new clothes that we would give him, and he would wear the old stuff," Tina said. "He would say that too, you know, spend it on the kids. What are you spending it on me for?"
The family said the New York-Italian and long-time Mobile chemical engineer was ready to retire this year, and sail with his mother to the old country before his shocking death.
Keenan Olson is expected to appear in court Friday for a bond hearing.
