Services Monday for retired Cincinnati Police officer allegedly killed by daughter
FOREST PARK, Ohio January 9 2020– Services were held Monday for a retired Cincinnati police officer whose daughter is under a murder indictment in his death.
Officer James Lee “Skip” Dunlap’s body was found Dec. 20 in the basement of his Forest Park home. He retired from Cincinnati Police Department in March 2002.
Visitation will be 9 a.m. with a memorial service to follow at 10 a.m. at Quinn Chapel AME Church, 10998 Southland Rd., Forest Park. AN FOP service will be held at 10:15 a.m.
Officer Dunlap, 69, will be buried at Crown Hill Memorial Park, 11825 Pippin Rd., Colerain Township.
His daughter, Liscia Willis, planned and then carried out the killing of father to take over the mortgage of his home in the 11000 block of Raphael Place, Forest Park police wrote in an affidavit filed in Hamilton County Municipal Court.
After she allegedly stabbed him to death, she began moving her things into his home, according to the sworn statement.
“This is such a sad case,” Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said last month when he announced Willis’s indictment.
“Skip Dunlap was a long-time well respected Cincinnati Police Officer. It is hard to understand that he could retire from a dangerous job without injury only to be killed by a family member.”
Willis, 49, is being held at the Hamilton County Justice Center in lieu of a $1 million bond.
She “has a long history of civil actions regarding torts, evictions, and foreclosures and other fiscal responsibility problems,” according to his obituary by the Greater Cincinnati Police Museum.
She faces charges of aggravated murder, murder and tampering with evidence.
Her arraignment is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Friday.
Officer Dunlap was born Oct. 31, 1950 in Cincinnati. He attended Robert A. Taft High School and graduated during 1969. He also attended Central State University from 1969 to 1971, according to his obituary.
On March 4, 1971, during the Vietnam War, he joined the United States Army. He was assigned to the Military Police and his posts included Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, Fort Gordon in Georgia, and Fort Still in Oklahoma. He was a sergeant and was honorably discharged on March 2, 1973. He remained in the United States Army Reserves.
Officer Dunlap then went to work as a 2nd Class Operator at Hilton Davis Chemicals on Langdon Farm Road, according to the police museum. He later took a position with the United States Post Office during 1973 working as a mail handler.
He joined the Cincinnati Police Division as a police recruit on Sept. 22, 1974. He was promoted to police officer on Feb. 2, 1975, issued Badge 697, and assigned to District 1.
A year later, Officer Dunlap was rotated to District 5.
On Dec. 5, 1976, due to financial issues at City Hall, he and 123 other officers were laid off.
More than 14 months later, Officer Dunlap was recalled from layoff and reassigned to District 1.
On April 24, 1983, a fire hydrant exploded on Armory Avenue, and the resulting sudden flood knocked down and nearly drowned a 14-year-old boy.
Officer Dunlap was close by, ran to the scene, and performed CPR on the boy, saving his life, according to the police museum.
He later worked in District 4, the Telephone Crime Reporting Unit and District 5.
Though he was getting older, Officer Dunlap was encouraged by his supervisors to be a field training officer and sought out by his co-workers for his knowledge and experience.
He retired with 39 letters of appreciation and/or commendation; including four from Cincinnati police chiefs and one each from a Laurel Homes Community Council president, Cincinnati Public Schools security director, Cincinnati fire chief, and Lincoln Heights police chief.
“Officer Dunlap went on to serve his community as one of the finest Community Relations Monitors in an experimental program conducted by the Cincinnati Human Relations Commission,” his obituary reads.
“During 2006, he joined the security force protecting Environmental Protection Agency buildings in and around Cincinnati. He finally retired during 2016 having spent almost his entire adult life serving our country, government, and community.”
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