Local

Man found dead at Buford Highway apartment

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A local family wants answers after a man was found dead in his DeKalb County apartment.

Police said someone shot and killed Modou Jatta, 46, on Feb. 22 and left his body without identification during an apparent robbery at the Hallmark Village Apartments of Buford Highway.

"I'm without a partner, I'm without a friend," said Jatta's wife, Melissa Jatta.

Melissa Jatta told Channel 2's Eric Philips she did not hear from police for days after her husband's death because he had no identification on him.

Modou Jatta stayed alone at the apartment several days a week to be closer to work. His wife said when she couldn't reach him for several days, she thought he was just working extended hours.

"He was a hard-working, decent man, and it was unfair," Melissa Jatta said. "I mean, they could have just asked for the wallet or whatever, he would have gave it to them. There was no reason to take his life."

The victim's friend, Musa Sanko, became concerned when he didn't show up for work for two days in a row. He went to Jatta's apartment and found his car door open, but no sign of the man. Police soon told him what had happened.

"All of a sudden, he's not there and we don't know what took him away. That's painful," Sanko said.

Jatta had a wife and step-children in metro Atlanta and six more children back home in Gambia, West Africa.

"We just want closure to what happened, why it happened, because we don't understand. He was kind," the victim's sister, Alina Jikinah, said.

Loved ones are trying to raise the $12,000 necessary to send Jatta's body back to Gambia. They're accepting donations at Bank of America and Chase Bank under the M. Jatta Memorial Fund.