ATLANTA — A metro Atlanta woman who was the mother of five and grandmother of four was gunned down while on her way home from work last weekend.
Beverly Jenkins worked at the City of Refuge as a resident service specialist, working with women and children dealing with homelessness, helping them with resumes, jobs and transitional housing.
When she left work early Sunday morning, she stopped to get gas. Then, on her way home, things took a terrible turn.
Just 2 miles away from the gas station at Hopkins Street and Westview Drive, someone called 911, saying a vehicle had careened down a small grassy embankment.
Detectives said someone walked up and opened fire, hitting the 49-year-old woman in the head.
The incident happened less than 2 miles from where a similar shooting had occurred just eight days before. Police told Channel 2 Action News they are investigating both cases but confirmed they are not connected.
[READ MORE: Police identify man shot, killed after gunman fires into car on I-20]
Friends said Jenkins had a huge heart and a smile to match.
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“We’re just at a loss right now, trying to understand how this could happen and how people could lose humanity,” William Miller said.
Miller said that, when he learned his long time friend had been gunned down, he was crushed.
“Five minutes from your home, that she would be ambushed and murdered?" Miller said.
Miller spoke to Channel 2 Action News on behalf of the family members, who were too devastated to talk.
“Her husband and her were high school sweethearts. They had been together since they were 17 years old and raised a family together,” Miller said.
Now, Jenkins' husband and their children are left without the heart and soul of their family after Atlanta police said the woman was found dead inside her minivan.
Flowers and two heart-shaped balloons mark the spot where the woman who gave so much was robbed of her life.
"This is what she gave to all of us -- a love and connection that just fundamentally lifted us all up -- and for that to be taken from us in some heinous act of violence, it has really shaken everyone to the core," Miller said.
To donate to the family's GoFundMe, click here.