DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Three families will never get their day in court after the man accused of killing their loved ones died in jail.
Olaolukitan Adon Abel was arrested and taken to the DeKalb County Jail on April 14 after engaging in what officers called a shooting spree throughout DeKalb County.
Before his arrest, Abel shot and killed three people in the county, two women, Lauren Bullis and Prianna Weathers, and a man, Tony Matthews.
Abel was found dead in his jail cell on Wednesday. The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death but do not believe it was foul play.
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Channel 2’s Eryn Rogers was in Brookhaven, where the family of Tony Matthews said their chance at justice was snatched.
“There’s no winning in this situation,” Miranda Matthews, Tony’s sister-in-law, said. “Judgment is not finished.”
The Matthews family told Rogers the time since Tony was shot has been extremely though. Tony Matthews was sleeping in front of a Brookhaven Kroger when Abel shot him three times.
He died a week later.
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Miranda Matthews told Channel 2 Action News that the family still doesn’t know why Tony was sleeping in front of the Kroger, but they say he was not a homeless man, as was originally reported.
“That’s a question we have that we’ll never get answered,” Miranda Matthews said. Tony leaves behind a wife, a 10-month-old daughter and three stepchildren.
“He just got married and then just had the baby,” Miranda Matthews said. “So it was like...we were excited for him.”
After being shot, Miranda Matthews said Tony was alert while medics took him to Grady Memorial Hospital.
But after three surgeries, doctors couldn’t stop the bleeding.
“There’s nothing else they can do because his whole insides were destroyed,” Miranda Matthews said.
After Abel’s death on Wednesday, the family told Rogers they’re still processing what’s happened.
“I don’t feel bad for the person,” Miranda Matthews said. “That was a coward thing to do, to run from what you have done.”
The funeral service for Tony Matthews will be held Saturday at Calvary United Methodist Church.
The Matthews family set up a GoFundMe to assist with expenses.
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