Mother driving for Lyft killed by suspect prior to shootout with police at DeKalb gas station

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - The GBI is investigating a shooting at a Redan-area gas station that left a suspect dead and an officer injured Monday night.

The suspect in that officer-involved shooting fatally shot a mother who was driving for Lyft just before the shootout with police, investigators say.

No one wants to plan a funeral the week of Thanksgiving, but the Sawyer family has found something to be to keep them going amid this tragedy.

"She almost hit me, said ‘Hey, daddy.’ Had that country voice," Joe Sawyer said.

Just hours before a stranger shot and killed his daughter, Lauren Allen, Sawyer bumped into her at a dollar store.

"Her last words to me were 'Thank you, daddy,' and 'I love you,'" he remembered.

Sawyer, who is a Peachtree Corners city councilman, says his he's grateful that serendipitous moment just before 6 o'clock was his final encounter with her.

Around 8:30 Monday night, at Wellborn and Marbut roads, 31-year-old Allen was dropping off a passenger. She drove for Lyft for years, but this time, family says Allen was driving specifically to pay off a phone bill.

The GBI investigates an officer-involved shooting involving a DeKalb County police officer in the Redan neighborhood on Nov. 21, 2022. (FOX 5)

The passenger she dropped off got into a domestic dispute with a man who police identified as 23-year-old Lerrell Chatman. Investigators say he pulled out a gun, fired shots, and fatally struck the mother of three.

"Hug your kids, hug your grandkids, we'll be taking care of ours the rest of their life," Sawyer said.

He holds his grandchildren extra tight now.

They're as close as he can get to his daughter who fate had him see alive just in time.

Family describes the Norcross High School grad as "a hustler," who loved deeply.

The family has set up a GoFundMe account to help pay for funeral expenses.