Friends react to murder of actor featured in several Spike Lee movies

ATLANTA, Ga. — A man featured in many Spike Lee movies was shot to death in Atlanta on Saturday.

Thomas Jefferson Byrd was found dead in the front yard of his mother’s home on Belvedere Avenue.

Crime Stoppers is offering a $10,000 reward in the case.

Channel 2′s Tom Jones spoke with friends and neighbors about Byrd’s death.

“I was not only a classmate, but we were playmates,” Byrd’s friend Juliette McCann said.

McCann grew up with Byrd in Griffin. They went to high school together and kept in contact. Byrd recently sent McCann a text with a message for her children.

“He said to make sure you tell them to stay prayerful and that Black lives matter,” McCann said. “We had no idea that that would be our last conversation.”

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Robert Callaway was checking on his mother’s yard Saturday morning when he spotted Byrd lying on the ground.

“I thought he had a health issue. He was in the yard,” Callaway said.

Callaway ran to a nearby fire station for help, but said he didn’t know Byrd and had no idea he was a well-known actor featured in Spike Lee films.

Spike Lee commented on social media that he was sad to announce the tragic murder of his beloved brother.

Another friend of Byrd’s, Oscar Sheppard, said he is still trying to process that his good friend is gone.

“No matter what he was doing or where he was, I got calls from him,” Sheppard said.

McCann called Byrd a trailblazer and said he once returned to her school to choreograph a student performance for Black History Month.

“Believe me when I tell you that performance was absolutely awesome,” McCann said.

Callaway said he was on Belvedere Avenue just before 2 a.m. Saturday, checking on damage to his mother’s roof after a tree had fallen on it.

Police are not releasing details about this case. If you have any information, call Crime Stoppers at 404-577-8477. You can remain anonymous.

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