This browser does not support the Video element.
Family of murdered woman offers reward for information
Lovejoy police are searching for the man accused of killing his wife over the weekend. Family members are now offering a cash reward in the case leading to his arrest.
LOVEJOY, Ga. - The search for Ikuko Thurman—the man accused of killing his wife in the driveway of their home in Lovejoy over the weekend—continued Monday according to police who said they were following a number of leads to find the 42-year-old murder suspect.
"We definitely need to get him off the street as soon as possible," Lovejoy Police Chief Michael Gaddis said.
While Thurman is still on the run, family members of the victim Livingston Jett, 47, who they lovingly knew as "Terry", are still trying to make sense of the senseless tragedy.
"This man really just tore my whole family apart," Jett’s oldest son, Johnny Tsitakis, said in an interview Monday.
The mangled mailbox that police say Livingston Jett crashed into while trying to get away from her husband. (FOX 5 Atlanta)
Police in Lovejoy said they were initially called to a Clayton County neighborhood in response to a car crashing into a freestanding mailbox.
They soon realized it was Jett, who’d crashed trying to get away from Thurman after he’d shot the mother of three in her car moments before.
"I just want to ask Ko… ‘Why would you take her from this family that loved her so much…why would you take her from us like that?" the victim’s grandmother said.
Tsitakis said the entire family is still in shock at his stepfather’s actions.
"I never thought he’ll do something like this…he plotted this. He sat back and he murdered my mama," he said.
He told FOX 5 his younger brother, who has cerebral palsy, was in the car with her at the time and Thurman called him to find out where they were after she’d moved out of the home about two weeks prior.
"He killed her in front of him…he’ll never be the same ever," Tsitakis explained.
Family members of Jett said she was a friend, a mother, a daughter, and sister who showed up for everyone she loved.
They said she was employed with the Clayton County Department of Juvenile Justice and had a passion for helping children get on the right path.
"My sister was the best…she’d never hurt anybody she didn’t even have a criminal record," the victim’s brother Kenneth Causey said.
Police are searching for 41-year-old Ikuko Thurman, who is wanted for murder of his wife on Friday evening in Lovejoy. (Lovejoy Police Department)
Though an arrest won’t bring her back, the family said it would help them begin to find closure and they’re offering a $2,000 reward to anyone who with information that could help put Thurman behind bars.
Family members said they are still finalizing details on funeral arrangements. Lovejoy police did confirm to FOX 5 5 they found Thurman’s car in Griffin, Georgia, but they are still searching for him.
He is considered to be ‘armed and dangerous’. Police are urging anyone with information to come forward and for residents who see him to call 911 and report it immediately.