DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A DeKalb County woman was killed when a tree crashed into her home during a severe storm early Wednesday morning.
It took firefighters two searches of a demolished section of the home on Betton Woods Road before they discovered the victim, 68-year-old Bobbi Pettiford.
“It’s just heartbreaking, you know. Because she is going to be missed by a lot of folks,” neighbor Amahl Lipkins told Channel 2’s Tom Regan.
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Lipkins said Pettiford had two grown children and lived alone. He said initially no one knew whether she was at home when the tree fell.
DeKalb firefighters did an initial search of the home, but the large fallen tree and structural damage made it difficult to get inside the crushed section of the house. They returned for a second search Wednesday night after a crew removed the tree and located the deceased homeowner.
“She was a good lady. Nice, as sweet as you could be. I hate that her life had to end this way,” said Lipkins
The same storm damaged several other homes in the Decatur neighborhood. Duane Longenecker says a large tree fell onto his home, crashing through the roof and ceiling.
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“Right then, a big gust of wind came along, sounded like a tornado, and okay, we need to go to the basement. We walked out of the bedroom and down the hall, in less than a minute, we heard the big crash of the tree hit our master bedroom. The same room we had been in,” said Longenecker.
Longenecker expressed sympathy for the victim’s family and their tragic loss.
Lipkins dropped off balloons, flowers and a card as a memorial to their beloved neighbor.
“It’s the least I could do to show my appreciation and love for her,” said Lipkins.
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