NEWTON COUNTY, Ga. — People released balloons on Tuesday for one of the three victims of the deadly Walmart shooting in Newton County.
It came on what would have been Khalaf Barksdale’s 22nd birthday.
The family told Channel 2’s Audrey Washington that they wanted answers as they held a vigil instead of a party for their loved one.
“When you left, half of me left with you,” Barksdale’s girlfriend said. “It feels like a dream that I want to wake up from it.”
“We just never would have imagined, we never thought he wouldn’t be here for his 22nd birthday,” family member Katrina Williams-Watson said.
The family’s nightmare began when an employee at the Walmart store on Salem Road started shooting.
Barksdale, who worked the overnight shift, died. Fellow co-worker Ryan Bradley survived.
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After the gunfire inside the Walmart, the shooter, identified as Dwayne Eduh, drove to his other co-worker’s home and opened fire, killing Akeela Clarke, 19, in front of her mother.
“She fell on impact and in that moment, I knew that my daughter was gone,” Akeela’s mother, Samantha Clarke, said.
Eduh shot and killed himself.
Now, deputies are relying on statements from the survivor and surveillance video from inside the store to figure out why Eduh would kill his own co-workers.
“For this to be so unexpected and not know why is very hard. It’s very hard to deal with to not know why he didn’t come home,” Williams-Watson said.
But family and friends said while deputies figure out a motive, they’ll continue to honor Barskdale and the beautiful life they say he lived.
The one survivor is recovering in the ICU. Deputies hope he remembers something that could lead to some answers in this case.
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