DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A local family is asking for help after the person they believe killed their sister is back on the street.
Someone shot and killed Laura Cooley in December of 2018.
Police arrested someone but later released that person.
Channel 2′s Lauren Pozen spoke to members of the victim’s family, who fear other women could be in danger.
The growing memorial of flowers marks the spot where Cooley’s body was found in 2018.
“When I first pulled up, tears came out my eyes. It is devasting,” her brother Wes Cooley said.
Channel 2’s Lauren Pozen met with Cooley in Decatur on Friday morning.
He put fresh roses on the fence where his sister's body was found nearly two years ago.
“The family wanted answers, and we couldn’t never get answers. We go out to the police station. They would never respond, and we know Channel 2 will come back and respond. That’s the reason I reached out to you,” Cooley said.
The day before Christmas Eve in 2018, a man was walking on Eastwood Drive when he saw a woman shot to death, facedown near a fence.
The medical examiner would later identify that woman as Laura Cooley.
Cooley's death was part of string of homicides in DeKalb County that month.
Police made an arrest, but the suspect was later released.
“There was hurt, devastating, crushed, then we didn’t have no answers, no closures,” Cooley said.
Pozen reached out to the district attorney's office for answers.
They say there wasn't enough evidence against the suspect they had in jail, so he was released. We are not naming him because he is not charged.
The case is still open, but for Cooley’s family, it offers little relief.
As each day passes, Cooley says he worries more and more that another woman could become the next victim.
“It might happen to someone’s family. someone’s mom. daughter and I hate that,” Cooley said.
Cooley says his niece and nephew are having a tough time with all this.
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