DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A memorial continues to grow for the owner of a nightclub as DeKalb County police search for the person who shot and killed him at his own business.
Family and friends told Channel 2's Rikki Klaus that 57-year-old Rogelio Hackett was a pillar in the community.
DeKalb County police said Hackett, who goes by Roger, was shot to death outside the Party Room on Memorial Drive around 5 a.m. Tuesday.
"There was an event at this establishment last night," said DeKalb County police spokeswoman Shiera Campbell. "We're not sure what time the event ended."
Curtis Johnson, a business partner and friend to Hackett, gave us a photo of the two of them together Saturday at a birthday party at the nightclub. He said he could not imagine how someone could do that to the best man he knew.
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"That was my brother," Johnson said. "I want Roger to be known as a very special man that wouldn't harm no one."
Rara Scott has known Hackett for more than a decade.
“It just hurts to think that somebody with his disposition will be murdered. Like cold-blooded. Just left on the ground,” Scott told Channel 2’s Lauren Pozen.
Scott said Hackett was not only a business partner, but a best friend.
“Yesterday during this time, we were having a business meeting with another business associate, having lunch and now he is gone,” Scott said.
Hackett was known in the rap music world. Artist Poison Ivy helped put together a growing memorial for him. She said he helped nurture her career.
“Roger always had my back. He welcomed me like a niece and he sponsored my whole video shoot,” Ivy told Pozen.
The big question Hackett’s friends have is why did this happen to a man who is a father and grandfather and a person they say had no enemies.
“It is sad man, because you know, it is like the good guy, the good guys lose. And we lost a good guy,” Scott said.
Cathy Graves' daughter married into Hackett's family and described the him as a sweet person.
"He's a very passionate person. Loved his family, his grandchildren and his kids," Graves said.
Scott told Pozen that Hackett was supposed to be in Florida on Friday for his daughter’s graduation from medical school and then come back to Atlanta for an event he was holding the next day.
Police said they are going through surveillance footage to get answers in the killing.
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