Anderson man killed while trying to help his friend, also shot, in Antioch

An Anderson man's rush to help his fatally wounded friend led to his own death, the mother of his son said.

Robert Charles Wickham Jr., known to friends as "Chucky D," died in an Antioch home Dec. 27 after two unknown men rang the doorbell, shoved their way in and shot his longtime friend, Christopher Smith of Antioch, then shot Wickham.

Smith's sister, Kendra Bryant of Antioch, said Wickham died trying to save her brother.

"Chuck could have run out the door, but he didn't. He went in to save his best friend," she said. "Chris would have done the same for him. It's just how our family was."

Bryant is also the mother of Wickham's 12-year-old son, Robert Wickham III. Wickham, 33, had moved from Antioch to Anderson about a year and a half ago, Bryant said.

Both he and Smith, 32, had left behind criminal pasts and improved their lives; Wickham was clean of drugs and wasn't in trouble with the law, Bryant said.

She thinks he was working in construction or as an auto mechanic in Anderson, where his father, Robert Wickham Sr., had come to live with him and his son's girlfriend.

Saturday night, Dec. 27, after visiting his mother for Christmas, Wickham Jr. dropped off his sister at the Antioch home she shared with Smith. He went inside to visit with his longtime friend, Bryant said.

"He was going to go back (to Anderson) that night because he had to go to work on Monday," she said.

But, soon after Wickham Jr. arrived, two strangers who rang the bell pushed their way inside, started a scuffle and shot Smith in the head, then Wickham in the chest, Bryant said family members told her.

The reason for the shootings is a mystery, Bryant said. She didn't think drugs were involved.

Her brother "didn't have anything, they didn't rob him, he didn't have any money," she said.

Antioch Police Sgt. Diane Aguinaga declined Tuesday to give a motive for the killings, which remained under investigation, nor would she say what happened at the house. She hoped police could make arrests this week, she said.

"We're working on a lot of leads right now," she said.

Both men died at the house, where Smith and his sister had grown up, Bryant said.

Wickham had two sons. Smith did not have children. In May, he had finished serving parole for an armed petty theft he committed in his youth, his sister said.

"That was 12 years ago. He had just turned 18," Bryant said. "We all had bad pasts, and (would) get in trouble and stuff. And there comes a time in life where you change."

Since then, her brother had taken a computer class, become certified in computer repair, and "knew how to fix everything," she said. He was popular with his customers and a good uncle. Both men were known for their good humor, too, Bryant said.

"They were well liked by everyone, and my brother was funny, always funny," she said.