The mother of a man gunned down at an apartment complex in Stone Mountain says these past couple of weeks without her son have been painful.
“I’m taking it one day at a time, still in shock to be honest with you,” said the woman, who asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons. “Empty, empty and hard.”
DeKalb County police say on December 12, just before 8 p.m., someone shot two people at the complex on Wood Bend Dr. in Stone Mountain. One victim was seriously wounded, the other later died.
The mother of the man who died says her son was named Christopher Blake Verdell. She says her son, who went by his middle name Blake, was visiting a friend. Someone began pounding on the door of the friend’s apartment. He opened the door. “He went outside to tell him to stop banging on the door and to leave. He got into a conflict with the guy and the guy shot him twice,” Verdell’s mother said.
She says her son’s friend went to see what was going on. “He shot him as well,” the victim’s mother said.
She says her daughter called with the horrifying news. “He shot so quick and easy and it was not a problem for him,” she said.
The killer is on the run. “I worry about somebody else getting killed,” the victim’s mother said.
Verdell’s mom says her son, a cabinetmaker, was the father of three children, ages 13, 5 and 4. “I’m proud of him,” she said.
She says her son was bright and funny. “He was extremely witty, liked to play pranks on people, he was a jokester. He loved life, he loved life to the fullest,” the victim’s mother said.
She says Verdell loved his friends, his family, especially his children, who now must grow up without their father. “My 13-year-old grandson is taking it the hardest. His dad was his biggest advocate,” the victim’s mother said.
That mom asks for your help finding the killer. “He needs to learn a very valuable life lesson: that life is precious. You don’t have the right to take it no matter what, you just don’t have that right,” the victim’s mother said.
Police have not released a motive, the name or a description of the suspect and have not arrested anyone in connection with the shooting.
That mom says she wants justice. Contact DeKalb police if you have any information on this shooting.
