A devastated son said he got to his mother ‘a few hours too late’ after she was stabbed to death inside her $800,000 home while trying to stop a carjacker.
Grandmother Ellen Bowles, 77, was attacked in the garage of her home in the affluent suburb of Buckhead in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday.
Her son Michael Bowles, 30, discovered his mother’s body after traveling to visit her for the festive period inside the gated community.
At a vigil for his mother, he said: ‘I was on my way to visit her for the holidays and got to her a few hours too late.
Grandmother Ellen Bowles, 77, was attacked in the garage of her Buckhead home in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday. Her son Michael, pictured, discovered her body
‘Finding her like that is something that will be with me forever. What happened to her was her worst nightmare. It’s most people’s worst nightmare.
‘I am committed to getting the word out about this outrageous tragedy. I want everyone to understand that none of us are really safe and if this can happen to mom, then it can happen to anyone.
‘Mom was the North Star in my world. She was a beautiful soul and taught me how to approach the world with empathy.’
Cops have arrested Antonio Brown, 23, on suspicion of murder, aggravated battery, hijacking a motor vehicle in the first degree, possession of a knife and abuse of a disabled or elderly person.
They circulated photos of a man believed to be Brown entering Bowles’s 2021 Lexus SUV over the weekend and believe that the grandmother may have walked in on him as he tried to steal the car.
Friends of the animal lover slammed her death as a ‘truly senseless act’, and have launched a GoFundMe to raise money for the Atlanta Humane Society – which has already raised nearly $30,000.
Antonio Brown, 23, has been arrested on suspicion of murder, aggravated battery, hijacking a motor vehicle in the first degree, possession of a knife and abuse of a disabled or elderly person
During a vigil outside her home on Sunday, friends and family paid tribute to the grandmother as they lit candles and sang Amazing Grace
Ellen dances with her son Michael. She was described as ‘kind, precious, funny, loving’ on a GoFundMe page set up in her honor
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A picture of the man believed to be Antonio Brown was released over the weekend. Brown has since been arrested
Deputy police Chief Charles Hampton Jr. said it was believed that Brown got into Bowles’s neighborhood by foot, but did not say how he made it past the gate
It is not clear how Brown may have entered the gated community, but cops believed that the murder took place between 11.30am and 12.30pm.
Her vehicle was later discovered dumped in DeKalb county after being driven throughout the city on Saturday.
Police admitted that they are not sure if more than one person is involved in the killing, but so far Brown is the only one to have been arrested.
During the vigil outside her home on Sunday, friends and family paid tribute to the grandmother as they lit candles and sang Amazing Grace.
Deputy police Chief Charles Hampton Jr. said it was believed that Brown got into Bowles’ neighborhood by foot, but did not say how he made it past the gate.
Hampton said it was possible Brown was aided by an accomplice, and said authorities were continuing to investigate.
‘We have who we were looking for right now,’ Hampton said in his announcement of Brown’s arrest.
Friends of the animal lover slammed her death as a ‘truly senseless act’, and have launched a GoFundMe to raise money for the Atlanta Humane Society – which has already raised nearly $30,000
Bowles’ Buckhead home, which is worth nearly $800,000, where she was knifed to death on Saturday
Buckhead residents first voiced the notion of secession from the rest of Atlanta in 2008, after a newsletter was circulated proposing that the move could reduce residents’ taxes by 50 percent.
The motion largely fizzled, but was rekindled again in 2021 as a means of curbing violent crime which was growing in the area.
‘We are living in a war zone in Buckhead,’ session advocate and Buckhead resident Bill White told Bloomberg at the time. ‘Shootings and killings, it just never ends.’
As recently as this past May, a non-binding advisory question was included on state’s gubernatorial primary ballot asking Georgians across the state whether or not they wanted to see Buckhead secede from Atlanta.
Police are offering a $10,000 reward for information, which can be reported to Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404-577-TIPS (8477) or www.crimestoppersatlanta.org.
