Newly-retired man killed in Dallas Home Depot parking lot

A retiree attacked at a Lake Highlands Home Depot died of his injuries. Now, one of the two people responsible for the attack is charged with murder.

Richard Delle's family says he grew up in North Texas and always wanted to retire in Dallas. The former CFO did and moved back from California. He had just started to enjoy the retired life when police say a woman asked him for money and her accomplice attacked him.

The assault happened on April 11, landing Delle in a coma for weeks. He died on Saturday. His sister says he had just retired and was excited about the future.

The 69-year-old had only lived in his new Dallas home for three weeks before police say he was assaulted in the parking lot of the Home Depot on Skillman Street.

Werner Duhme and his wife, Danica Odanovich, live across the street from Delle. Though he hasn't lived there long, the couple says Delle made an impression.

The retired CFO had gone to Home Depot on April 11 to buy something for his house. Police say Delle was approached by Amber Gray and asked him for money. When he declined, investigators say a man with Gray, Lataurus Murphy, attacked him and put him in a coma.

“These people just became extremely violent. Once my brother was on the ground, there was no reason for them to continue,” said Mary Stroope, Delle’s sister. “He was blind. He was paralyzed on one side. They took away a portion of his brain. It was just very devastating.”

Stroope says Delle underwent three operations. At one point, Stroope says he opened his eyes and tried to speak, but his words were incoherent.

Delle’s new neighbors paid him a visit.

“We'd gone to the hospital and tried to bring back his memory the best we could with cards and pictures of the neighborhood,” Odanovich said.

But Delle never recovered. And the new life he intended to build with new friends in a new neighborhood was over before he had a chance to enjoy it.

“It's just a sad thing. He wanted to live his life. He finally retired, and got a chance to,” Stroope said. “And now, he can’t. These people took it away. It was not necessary. It was not necessary.”

Murphy faces a murder charge and is due back in court on Monday.

There will be a celebration of life for Delle at Restland on August 3, which would've been his seventieth birthday.