CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It's a loss unimaginable for the Eakes family.
On March 1, Billy Eakes, 55, was killed while working at Walmart. Police say Christopher Glenn Clark walked out of the store with a drink and a bag of chips without paying. Shortly after, Eakes walked outside. Officers say Clark then shot at him multiple times.
"He was a great man and he didn't deserve this. He was the type to give the shirt out of his back. He was the sole provider for my mom. He took care of my mom and worked a full-time job. There was nothing we ever needed that he wasn't there for," said his daughter Emma Nafe. "All over, I don't know if it was over a bag of chips and a drink. Or someone who was angry. I don't know, but what we lost will never compare to any of it. It was senseless."
Nafe said she wants people to know her father was a loving man — a father who always puts his family first.
"It was family all the time for him. There was nothing any of us, me, my brother, any of the many grandkids could ask for that he wouldn't try to do," she said.
Nafe said it was heartbreaking to read articles about the situation and see people make assumptions on social media.
"In that moment, we're breaking as a family, but people's main concern was if my dad was trying to stop the guy from stealing a bag of chips or a drink," she said.
Nafe said everyone now knows something she's known her whole life: her dad was a hero.
"He stepped in front of him, had he not stopped him, had it not stopped there, it could've been a lot worse. It could've been a lot more people and a lot more families reeling like we are," she said.
There is a GoFundMe to help the Eakes family with financial costs.
