The world has come to know John Crawford III as the man whose death is now at the center of U.S. Justice Department investigation, but on Thursday night, his father sat down with WLWT's Jackie Congedo to talk about the life Crawford lived.

Advertisement John Crawford's father reflects on his late son's life, dreams 'I wish I would have taken more pictures,' Crawford's father says Share Shares Copy Link Copy

The world has come to know John Crawford III as the man whose death is now at the center of U.S. Justice Department investigation, but on Thursday night his father sat down with WLWT's Jackie Congedo to talk about the life Crawford lived.Born at Christ Hospital and a graduate of Greenberg Christian Academy, his dad said John Crawford III grew into a laid-back 22-year-old who loved football, The Weather Channel, and treasured his family above all else.He was a dad to 6-month-old Jayden and 1-year-old John Crawford IV."You can see, he's got him gripped up right there," Crawford's dad said, referencing a picture of his son and grandson. "Unfortunately, I didn't take a lot of photos with him because I hate taking them. But I kind of regret that I didn't take a lot of pictures now," John Crawford said.Watch this storyHis son was killed on Aug. 5 when he was shot by a police officer while holding a pellet gun inside the Beavercreek Walmart."They went inside the Walmart for s’mores, to make s’mores," Crawford said.Crawford said he had come into town that day for a surprise visit. Instead, he found his son's girlfriend panicked. She was on the phone with his son when police shot him."We were able to put the cellphone on speaker, and we were listening and I could hear voices: ‘Sir, we need you to get your hands up. Sir, we need you to get your hands up,' but he was already sucking air. He was trying to breathe," Crawford said.His son's smile and his dream of going back to school are now a memory. But Crawford said his boy is still with him."I was his biggest fan and he was my biggest fan. He would be like, 'I know my dad's going to handle business. He's going to vindicate me because I wasn't doing anything wrong,'" Crawford said.On Wednesday a grand jury decided not to indict the two officers involved in the shooting. On Thursday Crawford's family called that decision incomprehensible.