LOVEJOY, Ga. — A Lovejoy police investigator says late last year, a man answered the door at his mother’s home and was shot to death.
Now, police want the public to help them find those responsible.
Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne spoke to the victim’s mother about her son’s murder and the changes to the community since.
“It’s been hard for me because I’m really scared because I don’t know who did it or why they did it,” Jahmein Askew’s mother told Channel 2 Action News. “I didn’t see nothing, I was asleep. I heard a loud noise.”
Askew’s mother said she didn’t want to show her face because of how scared she is, and is turning to her faith to find the strength to deal with the loss.
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“I just pray. I just pray and I know God makes no mistakes. And I don’t question God but I know my son didn’t deserve this. He would give you anything he had if he could, the shirt off his back if he had to,” she said.
“In the early morning hours, the Lovejoy Police Department responded to Bear Creek Village in reference to trouble unknown and to a loud noise call,” Lovejoy Police Lt. Steve Payne said.
He told Winne the evidence suggests he answered the door at his mother’s house in the Bear Creek Senior Community between midnight and 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 30, 2023. Now police say they want answers about who shot and killed him in his mother’s doorway.
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“When I looked, I didn’t see him so I looked at the front door. I could see the crack at the bottom, where my door looked like it was open,” she told Channel 2 Action News.
Payne said Askew was shot in the head.
“...answered the door either to confront somebody or to meet somebody. So was there a doorbell or a knock on the door? Do we know which?” Payne said. “We don’t have any information that that took place. There was a peephole in the door.”
Payne said nothing appeared stolen in the incident, aside from the 44-year-old Askew’s life.
“Somebody woke him up to get him to come out to open that door,” Askew’s mother said.
Police said the motive for Askew’s murder is a mystery, noting that there were very few murders in Lovejoy in 2023.
“Last year we had one murder in April and this one in November. The one in April has been cleared by arrest and all persons involved with it are in custody,” Police Chief Rick Webster told Channel 2 Action News.
Lovejoy Det. Edrick Narvaez said he met with Bear Creek Senior Community residents to calm their fears and offer tips on how to stay safe.
“Most of the people over there were preoccupied and worried about the whole situation, so basically a couple of days over there I went over to advise the community on what steps to take if they see any suspicious behavior and/or who to call and what we expect of them to do,” Narvaez said.
Police say they’ve increased patrols in the area and are doing more details to bring crime down and assure residents that the police are out there.
“We have [an] approximately three to four minute arrival time on calls,” Lt. Joseph Arce said.
Askew’s mother said answers would give her some consolation. Police have gotten some persons of interest they said they’d like to interview, and Payne does not believe the murder was a random act.
“Some of his friends, they gotta know something,” Askew’s mother said. “Whoever did it, I just hope they catch them.”
Payne said he hopes someone who has information calls Lovejoy police at 678-610-9748 to help give the family a measure of relief.
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