Douglas County

Woman kidnapped, ordered to tell daughter goodbye, and shot in ‘unspeakable’ attack

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ga. — A man has been has been found guilty after he attempted to kill his then-girlfriend in 2019, the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office announced.

A jury convicted Dedrick Murray, 47, of kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault, terroristic acts with serious physical injury, and stalking.

On Sep. 26, 2019, deputies were called out to the Publix parking lot located at the intersection of Anneewakee Road and Chapel Hill Road in reference to a person shot.

Once they arrived, they found a woman with a gunshot wound to her left shoulder and an injury to the back of her head.

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The woman told police that Murray shot her and then ran away. The woman said the whole thing began when Murray came to her house unannounced in the early that morning.

Murray rang the doorbell, but the woman did not answer. However, a little later, the woman’s home started to feel warm and stuffy, so she went outside to look at her air conditioning unit. She suspected that Murray had cut the lines as he had done in the past.

While the woman bent down to inspect the lines, Murray came up behind her with a gun, pointing it at her and asked if she was ready to die. He then forced her back into the house, where he ordered her to call her daughter and to say “goodbye.”

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The woman fought with Murray, and he hit her with the gun.

Murray forced the woman into her car in the garage. Murray got in the vehicle and had the woman back the car out. The woman told Murray he would need to shut her garage door or the neighbors would suspect something was wrong.

Once Murray got out of the car, the woman threw the car in reversed to try to get away. Murray began shooting at the car, hitting the woman in the shoulder as well as shattering the driver-side window and the front windshield.

The woman escaped and drove to the Publix parking lot where she asked people for help and called the police.

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“The terror and fear that this victim had to endure is unspeakable. Domestic violence impacts not just the victims, but their families and the entire community,” Douglas County District Attorney Dalia Racine said. “Our office is committed to standing up for victims and to doing our best to hold their abusers accountable. I am so proud of our office and our law enforcement partners for their tenacity in seeking justice.”

Murray faces a maximum punishment of life imprisonment plus 61 years.

Sentencing will be at a later date.

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