MURDER MYSTERY: Woman found dead in latest DeKalb County homicide

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A woman was found shot to death in a Decatur neighborhood the day before Christmas Eve and her killer remains on the run.

"We just want to have closure. We want to get this perpetrator off the street," Wes Cooley told Channel 2's Lauren Pozen.

Cooley called Pozen the day after he got a call from the Dekalb County Coroner’s Office that his older sister, Laura, was found dead.

"I was in shock. I go down and see her and it was her," he said.

The big question Cooley and his family has is how did this happen?

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Cooley said the 59-year-old lived with their mom and would come and go as she pleased, but always came home.

But on Dec. 20, she left and never came back.

"We did not enjoy Christmas. We did not have dinner because we were out here looking for our sister," Cooley said.

What the Cooleys didn’t know is the day before Christmas Eve, a man was walking on Eastwood in Decatur.

Police said he saw a woman shot to death, face down near a fence.

The medical examiner would later identify that woman as Laura Cooley.

"Christmas Eve, my sister was laying on the street, dead," Wes Cooley said.

Witnesses told police they heard arguing and a single gunshot. The next morning, Laura Cooley's body was found.

Her death is part of string of homicides in recent weeks in DeKalb County.

"This is an isolated innocent. There is nothing that would suggest this murder was a part of the other murders," said Detective P.A. Wright.

Wes Cooley said he wants justice for his older sister.

"Just come forward. If you are a man, be a man. I do not think you had to shoot her like that," Cooley said.

As he prepares to bury his older sister this weekend, he said it’s one of the hardest things he will ever have to do.

"She's two years older than me. Growing up with her, we had our fun. We are going to miss her, really going to miss her. It is just hard to explain," Cooley said.

Cox Media Group