Family and buddies are mourning the stunning loss of life of a Georgia bookstore owner whose frame was once found floating in a creek over the weekend.
Erica Atkins, 40, the owner of Birdsong Books, was once found dead hours after she was once reported lacking from her house in Locust Grove, about 35 miles southeast of Atlanta, police mentioned.
Her frame was once came upon Sunday by means of a fisherman in Cedar Creek, a number of miles from her house, government mentioned.
Flowers left at Birdsong Books for owner Erica Atkins, in Locust Grove, Ga.
WSB
Romero Johnson, 38, faces homicide and kidnapping fees in connection together with her loss of life, Locust Grove Police mentioned.
Johnson was once an ex-boyfriend of Atkins’ who would from time to time paintings on the bookstore, her brother, Phillip Robinson, told Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB.
“It was shocking and extremely, extremely painful,” Robinson advised WSB.
Phillip Robinson, the brother of sufferer Erica Atkins.
WSB
Akins leaves in the back of a 21-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son, WSB reported.
“I’m really going to miss her,” her daughter, Jasmine Atkins, advised WSB. “My mother was everything to me.”
Jasmine Atkins, the daughter of sufferer Erica Atkins.
WSB
Atkins was once reported lacking on Sunday, police mentioned. A chum known as police after noticing the entrance door to Atkins’ house was once vast open, WSB reported.
Detectives “quickly identified” Johnson as a suspect and he was once taken into custody on Sunday for kidnapping, police mentioned in a observation.
Later on Sunday, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office contacted Locust Grove police after discovering a dead frame that matched the bodily description of the abduction sufferer, police mentioned.
“To dispose of a body like that is just heartbreaking, senseless,” Locust Grove Police Chief Derrick Austin advised WSB.
Detectives received an extra warrant for homicide for Johnson, police mentioned. Austin advised WSB that community cameras confirmed that the suspect were on the sufferer’s house, and that detectives tracked his automobile to Putnam County, close to the place Atkins was once found.
“It’s such a sad situation,” Austin advised WSB. “Someone she obviously trusted enough to have at her home, who would do something like this to her.”
Johnson is lately being detained in Henry County Jail. It is unclear if he has an lawyer who can discuss on his behalf.
Authorities are nonetheless operating to decide the reason for loss of life.
Erica Atkins was once the owner of Birdsong Books in Locust Grove, Georgia.
WSB
Flowers had been positioned outdoor Birdsong Books following news of Atkins’ loss of life. The new and used bookstore opened in Locust Grove in past due 2021. A bio on the store’s website described Atkins as an “advocate of reading, learning and educating people of all walks of life.”
“She grew up loving to read. An avid reader,” Robinson mentioned of his sister. “She would spend hours when we were kids reading aloud.”
Birdsong Books was once named 2022 Microbusiness of the Year by means of the Henry County Chamber of Commerce, which known as Atkins’ loss of life a “tremendous loss” to the neighborhood.
“As a business and community leader and a friend, she will be sorely missed,” the chamber of trade mentioned in a statement on social media Monday.
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