February 27, 2004
Valdosta - Friday morning, neighbors were still cleaning the blood stains off the steps outside the apartment where Delorise Wright was murdered.
"We got a 9-1-1 call from a man who said he had just shot his mother and thought she was dead," said Lt. Brian Childress. That call came from 23-year-old Roderick Williams. When police arrived, he was armed with a 20 gauge shotgun, threatening to kill himself. "We negotiated with him for about three hours, had family members out there with us, and did all we could but it still ended tragically," said Childress.
Roderick's cousin, Kevin Williams, lives downstairs and talked to him on the cell phone moments after he shot his mother. "He said 'man, come up here and get me and I'll give it up," said Williams.
Then he says their conversation was quickly cut off. "The police said they were getting interference and we had to hang up," said Wililams. "We almost had him out the door, we could've brought him down."
But all negotiations failed and Williams shot himself in the head. No one knows exactly why he took his life or his mothers. "I wish I had that kind of relationship with my mother, it was great," said Williams. "There was no reason for him to do this."
Police say Roderick Williams may be a suspect in an investigation, but won't comment on the nature of the case.
posted at 3:45 by ashley.harper@walb.com
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