APD investigate body found in northwest Atlanta

ATLANTA — Police want to know who killed a man and left him in a car not far away from a park playground.
 
Investigators found Willie Knighton, 63, dead inside a red Jeep Cherokee  at Collier Park just after 9 a.m. Friday.
 
It was parked in a lot not far from a playground where parents bring their children to play.
 
"I'm not used to seeing that in the park," mother Jennifer Murray told Channel 2's Tom Jones. "It makes me skeptical about coming to the park at certain times of the morning or evening."
 
Atlanta police say they got a call after someone noticed Knighton slumped over in the Jeep parked adjacent to the park.
 
Officers arrived and found Knighton dead inside. The Jeep was riddled with bullets.
 
"We did find multiple shell casings on the scene to indicate it was multiple shots fired," said Lt. Charles Hampton.
 
Police couldn't say when they think Knighton was shot.
 
"I heard like three gunshots. Like three to four gunshots. But I didn't get up because I had surgery on my leg so I couldn't get up to see what was going on,' neighbor Myra Brown said.
 
Brown said she heard those shots a little after 11 p.m. Thursday . Then she woke up and found out someone had died.
 
"(It) makes you feel bad to know it was that close to where we stay at," Brown said.
 
"I just heard like four consecutive shots. Like pow, pow, pow, pow," another neighbor, who did not identify herself, told Jones.
 
The neighbor said she looked outside and saw the Jeep, but didn't see anyone. Now she sees herself moving.
 
"It's just time to relocate," she said.
 
Atlanta police are asking anyone with information about the homicide to give them a call. You can also call Crime Stoppers at 404-577-8477.

WSBTV