By Sharon Coolidge
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The memories Eric Burdsall has of his father, slain Cincinnati police Officer Charles Burdsall, are those of a little boy: He was fun, people wanted to be around him and he laughed at life.

Burdsall was 5 years old when Wayne Reed, now 52, fatally shot his father when the officer responded to a report of a robbery. Now, Reed is up for parole and Burdsall and county and city officials are asking the public to write letters urging the Ohio Parole Board to keep the convicted killer behind bars.

Two of Burdsall's three children were joined Wednesday by Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen, Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis Jr.- who prosecuted Reed in the 1978 slaying - Cincinnati Police Chief Tom Streicher and FOP President Roger Webster. The board is set to hear Reed's parole request on Sept. 10.

"Wayne Reed is not a victim," said Burdsall, 29 - the same age his father was when he died. "He has not paid full penance. He is a killer and a thief who has stolen the well-being of the community, the peace of my family and the joy of my father.

"Anything less than the complete life sentence is an injustice to all these victims," he added.

In July 1978, Burdsall responded to a reported robbery at a Camp Washington convenience store. When he stopped a car nearby, Reed and Russell Bell got out of the car and Reed shot Burdsall.

After his arrest, Reed told investigators he would have shot any officer who got in his way, Leis said.

A jury sentenced both Reed and Bell to death, but the sentences were commuted to life when the U.S. Supreme Court declared death penalties unconstitutional in the 1980s. The death penalty was reinstated in 1999.

Bell, 50, was denied parole in 1998.

"It was grossly unfair that Chuck's life was taken at such a young age," Streicher said. "We ask Cincinnati to remember him and write a letter."

E-mail scoolidge@enquirer.com