ATLANTA,None — A widow is pleading for answers in her husband's killing. She and her family drove to Atlanta from Alabama on Tuesday to talk to Channel 2's John Bachman.
Donna Smith's husband was killed in in southwest Atlanta last year. The lead detective in the case said it's likely the victim was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Smith said her husband, Gregory, had just gotten into town to visit his mother. Less than an hour later, and less than a block away, his brother found him shot to death in his car.
"All he could do was point. We followed him. We got to the car. We found him sitting there," Smith told Bachman.
Atlanta police said Gregory Smith was shot twice in his red 2008 Ford Edge. It happened near the corner of El Paso Road and Santa Fe Trail just before midnight on Aug. 6, 2010. His mother was just returning home as well.
"I got out of the car and started running trying to get down there, but the police would not let me go," the victim's mother, Lena Smith, said.
Family members said the late Smith was not robbed, and the detective handling the case has already looked at other motives, including drugs.
"The one that sticks out the most is a case of mistaken identity," Atlanta police Detective E. Bowman said.
Bowman said earlier in the day, before Smith got into town, there was an argument between a gang at the Tucson Trail Park. She said it's possible a man who looked like Smith was involved. Her theory is that someone from the gang saw Smith later that night in his car.
"His foot was on the brake, so he had stopped for some reason. I don't know if someone ran out into the road, or someone ran up next to him yelling. We don't know what caused him to stop," Lena Smith said.
Donna Smith said she is still looking for her husband's killer.
"Our family wants answers. We have to live with this every day of our lives," she said.
The detective handling this case is asking anyone with information on the argument in the park or the shooting to come forward. Anyone with information is asked to call Atlanta's tip line at 404-577-8477.
WSBTV
