“She was a wonderful person:” Neighbors remember woman killed by man police say held her captive

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Clayton County police have arrested a man accused of tying up a woman in the bedroom and shooting her several times.

Another victim was able to get away and find help.

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“She was a wonderful person. She will be truly missed. I cried thinking about her. I just got done talking about her,” said Anna Ballman.

Ballman said she still can’t believe what happened to her neighbor.

“She was a really nice person. She spoke to everybody. It was her and her dog,” she said.

Police said they were looking for 44-year-old Kevin Nicholas Barge. Barge turned himself in late Tuesday night.

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Officers said that on July 5 inside the Arbor Gardens Apartments, he shot and killed a woman with her hands and feet tied together in the bedroom.

He also tied up another woman inside the apartment, but she was able to get away.

However, on July 17, Ballman’s neighbor died from her injuries.

Clayton County police identified Barge as the suspect.

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Police said he’s wanted on multiple charges, including aggravated assault with the intent to murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery, kidnapping, theft by taking, false imprisonment, possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.

Ballman says this incident was just too close to home.

“That it was really close. It was really close. I was scared. I mean because, the neighborhood that we live in, and she was an older woman. It’s scary,” she said.

It’s unclear if the victims lived at the home where they were held against their will. It’s also unclear if Barge knew his victims or why he was in the home.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS or the Clayton County Police Department at 770-477-3500.

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