ATLANTA - Police say a 68-year-old paraplegic Atlanta woman has been shot and killed by her husband and another person is in critical condition.
Atlanta police homicide Det. Lt. Keith Meadows said Rochelle Phillips, who was wheelchair-bound, died at the scene.
He said her 79-year-old husband is also suspected of shooting his stepson in the back of the neck when the younger man came home and tried to wrestle the gun away.
Meadows told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution the man confessed to police and was taken into custody. The stepson is in critical condition at a nearby hospital.
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A new low in criminal conduct...
Wow!! Speachless on this one!
Or maybe he just couldn't stand to see her suffer anymore. Maybe she begged him to do it. Maybe he has mental problems and wasn't in his right mind. I don't necessarily assume this is a criminal act.
Yeah corgimom, thats why he shot his stepson in the BACK of the neck too. Even if he does have mental problems, or even if she begged him to do it, it would still be a criminal, unlawful act.
My mother in law became psychotic and violent following a stroke. For the first 91 years of her life, she wasn't. You just can't imagine what mental illness can do to the elderly until you see it.
I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but taking a life of someone is unlawful and criminal, and by the way, lets shoot a stepson too. Based solely on the information we have from this report, I would assume it was a criminal act.
I can see your perspective, MadSnapper, and corgimom's perspective on this. My empathy corgimom, I've seen what behavior changes can occur after strokes and other medical incidents, too. It can be devastating to watch, especially if you're one of the caregivers, even when they are non-violent behaviors.
From other reports, and I DO hope this is correct, she has not always been a quadriplegic. If I were in that spot for years, God only knows what I'd do. The stepson may have come at the wrong time or this may have been a murder/suicide. I just hate this allll the way around. Just hate it.