Friends of Middletown motorcyclist rally around his family

Since Brooks, 48, of Middletown, was killed last week riding his 2011 Harley-Davidson, his co-workers at Sexton Industries, motorcycle buddies and friends, are caring for his four children, said Mercedees, 25, of Middletown.

They have called daily, dropped off food and money, and committed to continue their support.

“We are overwhelmed by the love,” she said.

Brooks, a motorcyclist enthusiast, died doing what he loved: riding his Harley, his daughter said.

“That gives us a little bit of comfort,” she said.

On Nov. 3, an unseasonably warm fall day, Brooks went to his best friend’s house and got his motorcycle out of his garage. Mercedees said she heard her father honk his horn as he passed her house.

He died a few hours later.

Brooks was killed when his motorcycle crashed into a 2013 Ford Fiesta near the Roosevelt Boulevard and Bonita Drive intersection, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol-Hamilton Post. Brooks, who wasn’t wearing a helmet, was ejected from the motorcycle.

He was transported to Atrium Medical Center in Middletown, then to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton where he was pronounced dead, according to the state patrol. He died from multiple blunt trauma and his death was ruled accidental, according to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office.

The driver of the car that hit Brooks, Linda Fitzwater, 73, of Middletown, sustained minor injuries and was transported to Atrium where she was treated. She was traveling westbound on Roosevelt Boulevard when she turned left onto Bonita Drive and struck the motorcycle, said Sgt. Brian Bost of the state patrol. He said investigators have recreated the accident scene, viewed surveillance footage from Wilson-Schramm-Spaulding Funeral Home across the street and interviewed numerous witnesses.

He said the surveillance footage shows the accident, but some of the witnesses gave investigators different accounts, Bost said. He said it may be weeks before the state patrol decides whether to file charges in the fatal accident. He said drugs and alcohol are not suspected in the accident.

Brooks is survived by his children, Joshua Moler, 28, Mercedees, Macy Brooks, 19, and Harley Brooks, 16; two grandchildren; two brothers and two sisters.

He also was an organ donor, Mercedees said.

Visitation will be from noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday at Baker-Stevens-Parramore Funeral Home, followed by a funeral service with Pastor Clark Morris officiating. Burial will be at Butler County Memorial Park.