‘A beautiful soul:’ Mother of 4 found shot to death in car on I-285

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The children of a mother of four who was murdered and left in a car on the side of I-285 are now trying to raise enough money to bury her.

Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes was in DeKalb County, where 34-year-old Dorian Bennett was found shot to death at the Lavista Road exit late Wednesday night.

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Fernandes talked to Bennett’s daughter, Beautiful Austin-Bennett, who said she and her siblings are still in disbelief knowing that someone killed their mom, who was known to her friends as “Sky.”

“She was just so humble and just... She had a beautiful soul for real,” Austin said. “My mom was a leader. Like everybody looked up to her.”

Austin-Bennett said a detective told her the terrible news over the phone.

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“He kinda like took his time saying it because he couldn’t, he couldn’t like just say it straight out on the phone so he took his time and got it out. Once we realized what he said it was just like a breakdown moment like in front of my school,” Austin-Bennett told Fernandes during Channel 2 Action News at 4 p.m.

Police still haven’t made an arrest.

The investigation revealed that the shooter was likely inside the car with the victim at the time of the shooting.

Her children are now raising money to help with her funeral expenses.

“She was a ‘make it happen’ type of person, so the fact that we have to ask for handouts or ask strangers for money because it happened so sudden and so soon and just off guard.. it was just - it kinda hurts me and my siblings because we just never thought we’d be in (this) predicament,” Bennett-Austin said.

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