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Calls for justice after death of former KIPP educator
Family and friends came together to remember a beloved educator in Atlanta shot and killed in Chicago last month. The family is still calling for justice.
ATLANTA - Family and friends came together to remember a beloved educator in Atlanta shot and killed in Chicago last month.
Former Kipp Metro Atlanta Schools Assistant Principal Abnerd Joseph worked as an educator in Atlanta for almost a decade.
"In a way that only he could, Anber was able to reach the hardest to reach scholars, and it was because he just he cared," Terra Walker with KIPP Metro Atlanta Schools said.
"I think I’m leaving this space wondering how he made such special connections with all these people, but everyone says the same story, is that he impacted them deeply, he loved them deeply, and he showed up in a way that was so special," Walker added.
Joseph moved to Chicago a little over a year ago to teach at a charter school there. Chicago Police say Joseph was shot multiple times at his downtown high rise in September after a dispute with another tenant. He later died from his injuries. That tenant, who has a concealed carry license, wasn’t charged.
Police say Joseph was pounding on doors in the building the night he was killed and allegedly injured a doorman.
However, his family says that’s not like him. They want answers and are calling for an investigation into his death and for the people involved to be held responsible.
"Don’t stop fighting for Abner. Your work is not in vain. The calls that you made to the state’s attorney office Kim Foxx like the pressure that you put on her she actually did reach out," Joseph’s brother Jay Charles explained.
While the family continues their push for answers, they’re focusing on ways to honor him and his impact on the community.
"Abner was so real and even when he left the room, it was like where’d Abner go it’s like he was popular he was everything, so for this guy to just take him away absolutely not," Joseph’s sister, Ashley Joseph, said.
"A spirit and a soul that’s beautiful, that’s his, that’s not with us, and we just don’t understand how there must be justice," Walker added.
The family has set up an online fundraiser to help the family in their fight for justice.