Family warns of Craigslist dangers after man's murder

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — The fiance of a man murdered for his cellphone says he wondered if the man who planned to buy it was setting him up for a robbery.

Clayton County police say 18-year-old Terrance Dent shot and killed 25-year-old Jevon Freeman in a church parking lot on Highway 85 near Riverdale Wednesday. Officers say Freeman met Dent to sell him an iPhone Freeman had advertised on Craigslist.

Freeman's fiance told Channel 2's Tom Jones she warned him the day he left to meet Dent.

"I remember telling him to be careful. He always said, 'God got me.' That was just something he lived by," Tynia Walker said.

Walker says Freeman felt uneasy about Dent, since he refused to meet him at a nearby gas station.

"He called his best friend and told him he felt like the guy was gonna try and rob him because the guy was so adamant about meeting him at the church," Walker said.

Police say they were able to quickly track down the Charles Drew High School junior. "We were able to utilize Craigslist and trace back to the subject," Officer Phong Nguyen said.

Officers say they checked Freeman's phone records and noticed Dent's number on it the day of the incident. Investigators say the student confessed to the murder, saying he gave Freeman $450 for the iPhone, got the phone, then shot Freeman and ran away.

Latrel Irving, 17, was arrested after police say they found the murder weapon in his backpack in his bedroom. A woman inside Irving's home had no comment. No one answered the door at Dent's home.

Walker says Freeman was the love of her life.

"He told me the first day we married I was going to be his wife," she said. Walker says she planned to marry the father of their two kids. Now that won't happen. She has this warning to people who arrange to meet buyers or sellers in response to an ad on Craigslist. "Don't ever do that. I never recommend anybody go on Craigslist ever again after this tragedy," she said.

Freeman didn't have any insurance. His friends are planning a fundraiser at Dugans on Memorial Drive at 9 a.m. Tuesday to help with the funeral. Freeman's family has also set up a bank account at Bank of America to also help. The account is set up in Jevon Freeman's name. The account number is 334038497541.

Freeman will be laid to rest at 11 a.m. Saturday at The Hand of the Lord International in Decatur.

WSBTV