COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Arraignment hearings are the next step in Kennesaw State University student’s murder case.
Alasia Franklin, 21, died May 18.
Her ex-boyfriend, Samuel Harris, is in jail accused of shooting and killing her outside a student housing complex.
A Grand Jury indicted Harris Thursday. That moves the case forward in the court system. It means there is enough evidence for Harris to stand trial if he maintains his innocence.
Prosecutors accuse him of showing up on campus before 4:00 pm on Saturday, May 18, and shooting Franklin outside the student housing near Campus Loop Rd. The indictment said he then tried to tamper with or hide evidence connected to Franklins cell phone and car.
The new information comes as many of Franklin’s classmates return to campus for the first time since the shooting.
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Classes begin at KSU Monday, and Channel 2 Action News Reporter Courtney Francisco checked in with students who were moving back on campus Saturday.
Emily Schauvin was a member of student government alongside Franklin. She cried when talking about returning to campus without her friend.
“She was so close to graduating, and you could tell she put everything into her degree,” said Emily Schauvin.
Franklin was also on homecoming court. She was a Dean’s List student who wanted to be a nurse practitioner.
“We honor her and think of her every single day,” said Kerrington Garrett.
The gunfire that killed her that afternoon in May sent the campus into lockdown mode.
The university lifted the lockdown less than an hour later after Cobb County Police arrested Harris at an apartment complex in Marietta.
The next day, students found out Franklin was the student killed.
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“I broke down when I found out it was her,” said Garrett.
The next week, Franklin’s family said Harris was Franklin’s ex-boyfriend. They grew up together in Cairo.
Her immediate family was still processing the Grand Jury indictment information Saturday. They were not ready to talk publicly.
On campus, students said they are watching out for one another more than ever this semester.
“Oh, yes. Absolutely,” said Chauvin.
They are discussing campus safety and security.
Schauvin said she returned to campus early to clean up the memorial they made for Franklin after the shooting before students moved back in over the weekend, but it was no longer there.
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She and fellow student government members plan to ask for a permanent marker to honor Franklin.
“We’re going to try to put a picture up at least in the SGA office to honor her,” said Garrett.
Saturday was Harris’s 84th day in the Cobb County Jail. He was initially arrested for three charges: Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Crime.
The Cobb County District Attorney’s Office added three more charges to that: Malice Murder, Tampering with Evidence and Possession of a Firearm in a School Safety Zone.
The Grand Jury approved all six of them.
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