DeKalb woman, family killed by boyfriend in murder-suicide was preparing to leave, loved ones say
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - In Georgia, domestic violence-related murder-suicide deaths are trending in the wrong direction, according to data from the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Statistics from 2018 to 2021 showed a 75% increase in cases.
"These situations are very unpredictable… having to live with that level of fear and then having your life taken in that way," Barbara Gibson with the Women’s Resource Center said in an interview Monday.
The lives of four innocent people, including two young children ages one and five, were among DeKalb County’s most recent victims.
"I think it was an ‘if I can’t have you, nobody will kind of thing’, which made him go crazy and kill my entire family," Chanel Carter told FOX 5.
Carter says after days of not hearing from her mother, 43-year-old Mollian Johnson, she called police to do a welfare check at her apartment on Vineyard Walk.
That’s when she made the gruesome discovery of her body along with her sister Kaylyn, niece Jedorah and nephew Jontavious, shot to death by Johnson’s boyfriend Jonathan Darden. Police say Darden then took his own life.
"I flashed my own light in the back window and that’s when I seen a body on the floor and a baby’s foot on the bed," Carter recalled.
RELATED: 2 kids, 3 adults found dead in apparent murder-suicide at DeKalb County apartment
She says the family had recently relocated to the Atlanta area from Milwaukee.
"It sucks to see that, to know that I’ll never be able to talk with her or laugh with her again…hug them," she said in tears.
Gibson says the holiday season can be particularly difficult for women who find themselves in an abusive relationship.
"You have ideas about what the holiday should be like…you really are hoping things could be better, things could be different," she explained.
She tells FOX 5 in the midst of this heartbreaking situation; she hopes the story will encourage other women experiencing domestic violence to make a plan.
"It’s really important to reach out to someone who will do some safety planning with you," she added.
Carter says the family is trying to make arrangements to have the victims transported back to Milwaukee where they hope to hold their funerals. Johnson's family there held a candlelight vigil for her Tuesday night.
They’ve created an online fundraiser. You can find more information about by clicking here.
The Source: FOX 5 Atlanta's Joi Dukes original report.