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A devastated son said he came to his mother “a few hours too late” after she was stabbed to death inside her $800,000 home while trying to stop a carjacking.
Grandma Ellen Bowles, 77, was attacked in the garage of her home in the affluent Atlanta, Georgia suburb of Buckhead on Saturday.
Her son Michael Bowles, 30, discovered his mother’s body after traveling to visit her over the festive period within the gated community.
At a vigil for her mother, she said: “I was on my way to visit her for the holidays and I was a few hours late.”
Grandma Ellen Bowles, 77, was attacked in the garage of her Buckhead home in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday. Her son Michael, in the photo, discovered her body.
‘Finding her like this is something that will be with me forever. What happened to her was her worst nightmare. She is most people’s worst nightmare.
‘I am committed to spreading the word about this shocking 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 she taught me to approach the world with empathy.’
Antonio Brown, 23, has been arrested on suspicion of murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping of 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 getting into Bowles’ 2021 Lexus SUV over the weekend and believe the grandmother may have caught him trying to steal the car.
Friends of the animal lover slammed her death as a “truly senseless act” and 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 assault, kidnapping of a motor vehicle in the first degree, possession of a knife and abuse of a disabled or elderly person.
During a vigil in front of her home on Sunday, friends and family members paid tribute to the grandmother by lighting candles and singing Amazing Grace.
Ellen dances with her son Michael. She was described as “kind, precious, fun and loving” on a GoFundMe page set up in her honor.
A photo 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 Brown was believed to have entered the Bowles neighborhood on foot, but would not say how he got through the gate.
It is unclear how Brown could have entered the gated community, but police believed the murder took place between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
His vehicle was later found to be dumped in DeKalb County after being driven throughout the city on Saturday.
Police have admitted they are not sure if more than one person is involved in the murder, but Brown is the only one who has been arrested so far.
During a vigil outside her home on Sunday, friends and family paid tribute to the grandmother by lighting candles and singing Amazing Grace.
Deputy Police Chief Charles Hampton Jr. said Brown is believed to have entered the Bowles neighborhood on foot, but would not say how he got through the gate.
Hampton said it was possible an accomplice helped Brown and said authorities are 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 launched a GoFundMe to raise money for the Atlanta Humane Society, which has already raised nearly $30,000.
Bowles’ Buckhead home, worth nearly $800,000, where she was stabbed to death on Saturday
Buckhead residents first voiced the idea of seceding from the rest of Atlanta in 2008, after a newsletter was distributed proposing the measure could cut residents’ taxes by 50 percent.
The motion largely failed, but it was revived again in 2021 as a means to curb growing violent crime in the area.
“We live in a war zone in Buckhead,” session attorney and Buckhead resident Bill White told Bloomberg at the time. ‘Shootings and murders, it just never ends.’
As recently as this past May, a non-binding advisory question was placed on the state’s gubernatorial primary ballot asking Georgians across the state whether or not they wanted Buckhead to be separated 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.