Photo: Getty Images
The relatives of two Black women are seeking answers after they were shot to death days before their neighbor, a convicted sex offender, was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head at his home next door in Columbus, Georgia.
According to NBC News, the March deaths of 52-year-old Juantonja Richmond and 51-year-old Ronisha Anderson, friends who worked together as billing specialists, and neighbor Soloman Adams, 65, remain unsolved.
A link between the fatal shootings of the friends and Adams also remains unclear, and there have been conflicting reports and evidence in the killings.
Adams was found dead on March 9, two days after the friends' bodies were allegedly discovered at the neighboring home on a dead-end road.
According to a coroner's report obtained by NBC News, Adams left notes around his home suggesting that he was being targeted by an “individual and or gang members.” Elizabeth Allison, the deputy coroner who wrote the report, said she believed his death may have been self-inflicted.
As for Richmond and Anderson, a separate autopsy report shared with NBC News said the pair “were believed to have been shot by an individual who was found dead in his residence after having apparently shot himself.” The autopsy report didn't identify Adams by name, but his body was found in his bedroom after his estranged wife, Arimentha Adams, called the police to conduct a welfare check.
The estranged wife lives in Alabama but was still legally married to Soloman Adams at the time of his death. Despite going their "separate ways," the pair still talked on the phone after Adams moved to Georgia roughly two years ago.
During a phone call on March 8, the day after Anderson and Richmond were found dead, Arimentha said her estranged husband asked her to call the police at 2 p.m. the following day. Arimentha said she didn't ask why, and Solomon didn't provide a reason for the request.
“We were separated,” she said. “I didn’t ask.”
Arimentha said she called the police the next day when she was unable to reach him.
Before their deaths, Anderson and Richmond worked as billing specialists for Healing Minds Institute, a therapy practice founded by Anderson’s ex-husband, Xavier McCaskey. The friends worked together at the home where Anderson and her ex-husband still lived, according to Anderson’s family.
The family also noted that Anderson was preparing to move out of the home she shared with McCaskey after they divorced in October due to "irreconcilable differences".
The day before their death, Anderson told Richmond that they would start work the following day at 11:30 am, which is more than an hour earlier than their typical start time, Richmond’s sister, Danita Tate, said.
According to the Columbus Police Department, authorities were called to the home at 11:35 a.m., responding to a report of a shooting.
“Why did they have to work early to do billing?” Tate said. “Who knew that Tonja would pull up that time of morning?”
Authorities also provided conflicting details about where their bodies were found. A police statement said officers found them in the front yard while an autopsy cites that Richmond was found in a car.
On Friday (June 16), Brittany Santiago, a spokeswoman for the Columbus Police Department, said the department is “working diligently to bring the case to a resolve and, more importantly, bring the victims’ families closure.”
However, relatives are frustrated with an alleged lack of progress and communication from investigators in the case.
“We need some justice,” Tate said. “We need some answers. I have no faith in the Columbus Police Department.”
The Black Information Network is your source for Black News! Get the latest news 24/7 on The Black Information Network. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app or click HERE to tune in live.