Man wanted for killing wife shot by Coweta deputies after day-long manhunt

COWETA COUNTY, Ga. - A day-long manhunt for 34-year-old Dustin Allen Phillips ended Wednesday night back where it all started at a home on Halo Trace in Coweta County.

His uncle who lives at the home says this could have been prevented and both his nephew and his estranged wife should still be alive.  

"Vennessa was a good girl," said Allen Phillips, Dustin’s Uncle. "She didn't deserve any of it, she took care of her kids, she loved her family."

Venessa Phillips (Courtesy of the family)

The family of 35-year-old Vennessa Phillips says on Tuesday she was shot and killed on Halo Trace near Sharpsburg. They say it happened in front of her 4-year-old daughter.

Investigators say her estranged husband, Dustin was the man who killed her.

Allen, Dustin’s uncle, says there was some sort of argument before the shooting.  

"Him and her have been having problems, so she was leaving him, but he couldn't accept it," Allen said.

Dustin Allen Phillips

Multiple agencies searched for Dustin for an entire day only to have him return to the murder scene Wednesday night. According to the GBI, Dustin ran when he saw Coweta County deputies, who then took off after him. The GBI says Dustin pointed a handgun at deputies and fired several times. Deputies subsequently fired their weapons, hitting him multiple times.

He died at the scene.

Allen says Dustin never shot at police, and he says Vennessa had called law enforcement a number of times on Dustin over a period of time, but Allen says nothing was done. He believes Coweta County failed everyone.  

"For Dustin to do what he has done I don't uphold what he did, but Coweta County could have prevented all this from happening if they had done their job and locked him up where he could have been in jail," Allen said.

The two leave behind five children and a grandchild. Allen says his heart breaks for them.

"I wish it never happened, and I'm here for them," Allen said about the kids. "I love them."

No deputies were injured. The GBI is now investigating.  

The family has created a GoFundMe.