Family mourns Gwinnett County father shot, killed while driving: 'They need therapy. They need counseling'

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - The family of the man who was found shot to death in a crashed car in Gwinnett County last Thursday doesn't understand how this could happen.

Gwinnett County police discovered the 46-year-old father's body after he crashed into a tree last Thursday.

Don Wardlaw’s sister-in-law said he was driving to work around 4:30 Thursday morning when he was shot and killed. 

Now, two children are left fatherless as they try to navigate life without him by their side.

"To lose a parent to a violent crime, there are no words for it," Danielle McKinley said about her brother-in-law's death. 

Wardlaw's children are 19 -years-old and 16-years-old.

"It is hard. You know, waiting for their dad to call, waiting for him to just come home so the surrealism so that's what they're dealing with right now," McKinley explained. 

Nearly a week after police found the 46-year-old dead, McKinley said their family is still grappling with the thought that someone murdered him.

"Don was murdered at 4:30 in the morning so this one, the M word, to say murder is enough but at 4:30 in the morning, it's like it doesn't even sit well in the mouth," she said. 

Investigators found Wardlaw shot to death inside this white sedan after he crashed into a tree last Thursday.

He was in the driver seat here on Rockbridge Road near Stone Mountain Highway.

"Someone's father is leaving, and it's 4:30 in the morning and someone has already decided in their mind, in their heart that they are going to take the life of someone else before sunrise, it's unspeakable," McKinley detailed. 

An unspeakable situation about a man McKinley said was a jokester who wanted to tell jokes and just make people laugh.

"Ebony has loved Don for 30-years and there are no answers," McKinley described. 

She is now raising money for her niece and nephew as they process not only the loss of their father but also their grandfather who died just a few weeks ago.

"They need therapy, they need counseling. Sierra's gotta go to college," McKinley said. 

Detectives ask that any witnesses who may have seen or heard anything to come forward immediately. 

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