Woman killed, suspect shot at DeKalb motel

DECATUR, Ga. - A woman was stabbed to death and her alleged attacker was killed by a security guard at a DeKalb County motel.

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Earnest Marshall, the night manager at the Super Inn Motel, said a man ran into his office around 1:30 a.m. Saturday and told him that his girlfriend was being attacked in her room. Marshall called 911, and someone also notified an armed security guard who was patrolling an apartment complex next door.

When they got to the woman's room, witnesses said the suspect came out covered in blood and lunged at the security guard with a knife.

"It was a horrific scene," Marshall said. "It was just like he wanted the man to shoot him... he wanted to die. The man just kept coming."

The guard fatally shot the man, saying he was forced to do it in self-defense. Inside the room, the woman was found stabbed to death.

"They (the police) told me pretty much I was a hero," the guard told WSB-TV in Atlanta. "I was just wishing I could have gotten here a little bit earlier."

DeKalb County police have not released any names or a possible motive for the stabbing.

The investigation is ongoing, and police have not charged the security guard with a crime.

--From the Monday, November 29, 2004 online edition of the Augusta Chronicle