# Prominent Black Family Found Dead (cobbs County)



## Rastafarai (Aug 23, 2019)

Ladies in the ATL...found this on my news feed and I just don't understand. She had also just come back from a trip to Italy with her daughter. Is this a cover up???

 

 

 

 

COBB COUNTY, Ga. - The family of a prominent Atlanta surgeon and community leader was found dead inside a Vinings townhome Wednesday night.

Police say Dr. Marsha Edwards, 58, shot and killed her two children, Christopher Edwards, Jr., 24, and Erin Edwards, 20, before turning the gun on herself.

Marsha Edwards’ ex-husband and father of her two children is Dr. Christopher Edwards, a well-known orthopedic surgeon and the chairman of the Atlanta Housing Authority.  He is the former president of the Georgia Physicians Association, a former vice president of the Grady Hospital Board of Trustees and a former chair of the United Way of Greater Atlanta Health Committee. He also serves as a member of the board of trustees of the Morehouse School of Medicine, according to the Atlanta Housing Authority website.

According to LinkedIn, Dr. Marsha Edwards owned a business called MME Enterprises, a surgical and medical equipment supplier.

Christopher Edwards and his sister Erin grew up in Atlanta. Christopher worked for the City of Atlanta as the Digital Content Manager for the Executive Office of Entertainment. He graduated from Elon University.

Erin Edwards graduated from Woodward Academy in 2017 and was a student at Boston University. She interned in the digital department at NBC New York over the summer. Before that, she interned in the Mayor’s Office of Communications.

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms released the following statement about their deaths:

_“Derek and I join the greater Atlanta community in mourning the loss of three members of the beloved Edwards family. Chris and Erin were beautiful, vibrant, and brilliant young adults, whom we had the pleasure of knowing their entire lives. They filled the lives of all who met them with joy, compassion, and kindness. May the peace of God, that surpasses all understanding, be with the Edwards family and all who had the honor to have known them.”_

Erin Edwards and her mother had just returned from a trip to Italy together days before the shooting.


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## Evolving78 (Aug 23, 2019)

Paranoid schizophrenia?


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## SoniT (Aug 23, 2019)

I read about this yesterday. Very sad. What made her snap?


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## Ms. Tarabotti (Aug 23, 2019)

This is why you have to keep in mind that some Facebook posts might not line up with people's realities. If she did kill herself and her two children, she was battling some personal demons.


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## RoundEyedGirl504 (Aug 23, 2019)

This is so sad. I wonder when she and the ex divorced? Maybe financial troubles, a lot of folks look like they're doing well until you pull back the covers.


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## secretdiamond (Aug 23, 2019)

I know him.  Not very closely, but through work networks and referring patients to one another, sending pleasantries, etc. We have been missing each other for dinner for months now (with other colleagues) for work.  One of us was always busy and cancelling last minute. 
I feel awful for him to lose his family this way. 
Word is she had severe depression. But, it all still makes little sense. 
If I find out more, I'll let y'all know. So sad.


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## Laela (Aug 23, 2019)

I saw this on the news and was flabbergasted..God is the only one who knows what anyone is battling in their minds.. Prayers and thoughts go out to Dr Edwards for losing his family. I cannot fathom how he and his relatives feel! God bless them all


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## SoniT (Aug 23, 2019)

They're a beautiful family and they look so happy. You just never know what someone is going through.  I couldn't imagine my mother pulling a gun on me. If that's what really happened then her poor children must have been terrified if they were awake at the time.


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## Maracujá (Aug 23, 2019)

I know mental health issues firsthand, being someone who has been battling it for over a decade. My mom suffers from it as well. About a decade ago, when she would be going through one of her episodes, she would hide all of the knives away from our home. Probably so as to prevent something like this. May they all RIP.


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## chocolat79 (Aug 23, 2019)

OMG! I used to work with him indirectly, years ago.  He was always pleasant to me and he always wore cowboy boots and scrubs to the office.  I've met his ex-wife once too, but I forgot what her specialty was.  This is horrible!!


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## Always~Wear~Joy (Aug 23, 2019)




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## Keen (Aug 23, 2019)

It's hard seeing the children's pictures knowing their fate.


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## Cheekychica (Aug 23, 2019)

I'm at a loss for words.... wow.


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## SoniT (Aug 23, 2019)

Wow, what possessed her to do that?? Or did someone else do it? They look genuinely happy in the pictures.


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## CarefreeinChicago (Aug 23, 2019)

Tragic and I am not a conspiracy theorist but this doesn’t sit well with me.


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## ava2 (Aug 23, 2019)

This doesn’t sound (or feel) right. I’ll reserve judgment for more details to emerge.


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## vevster (Aug 24, 2019)

In their 50s women go through hormonal shifts that can affect their mental state.


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## frizzy (Aug 25, 2019)

Gosh, I was expecting to read about an intruder.   So sad.


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## Black Ambrosia (Aug 25, 2019)

Idk enough to speculate but my spidey senses are tingling. Did he owe anyone money?


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## SoniT (Aug 25, 2019)

I've been reading up on this story and looking at their social media pages. I read that the couple had divorced, remarried, and then divorced again in 2012. On Marsha Edwards' Facebook page, she gives the appearance that she lives a fabulous life - traveling, attending NABJ conventions, pictures with her Links sisters, celebrities, and politicians. It just goes to show that people only post what they want you to see. You never know what's going on in someone's head or at home.


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## ThirdEyeBeauty (Aug 25, 2019)

She killed two adults in an apartment in a city? What king of gun did she used? How did she get or make a silencer? Were they all to meet at the apartment? Were they asleep?  What is the motive for a double murder suicide vs suicide only?  What are the individual friends and family of each adult saying about the rendezvous to the city apartment?  What are witnesses saying? There must be whole bunch of earwitnesses and maybe an eyewitness or two.



> "For something like this to happen and unfold, it's unbelievable," neighbor Talia Cartall told WSB. "We didn't hear anything. There was no sign of violence or anything."


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## Laela (Aug 25, 2019)

wow.. interesting questions.. I have one that is bothering me.... why did dad call police for a welfare check at the house, instead of just going there himself?? I wonder what their relationship was up to that point.

I doubt anyone heard anything..looks like thy'd lived in a 4-sided brick, end-unit townhouse.. near a buffer...



ThirdEyeBeauty said:


> She killed two adults in an apartment in a city? What king of gun did she used? How did she get or make a silencer? Were they all to meet at the apartment? Were they asleep?  What is the motive for a double murder suicide vs suicide only?  What are the individual friends and family of each adult saying about the rendezvous to the city apartment?  What are witnesses saying? There must be whole bunch of earwitnesses and maybe an eyewitness or two.


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## ThirdEyeBeauty (Aug 26, 2019)

Oh it was an end unit townhouse.  Just read it was a highly secured with officers gated community. Great point why the father did not just show up at the place.  Does he not live too far from them? Seems like that is not the norm for him to just show up?


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## Ivonnovi (Aug 26, 2019)

It is my belief that this was a combo of Emotional turmoil (or Trauma) mixed with Mental Illness.   
Almost as though the kids gave her some traumatic news she didn't handle well, and was s-e-v-e-r-e-l-y triggered.    This would be especially true if this _Nice Narcissist_ received some news that made her feel rejected or threatened; such as the kids deciding to move out from her and in with Dad.  
She snapped and regained control of the situation...once & for all.


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## SoniT (Aug 26, 2019)

ThirdEyeBeauty said:


> She killed two adults in an apartment in a city? What king of gun did she used? How did she get or make a silencer? Were they all to meet at the apartment? Were they asleep?  What is the motive for a double murder suicide vs suicide only?  What are the individual friends and family of each adult saying about the rendezvous to the city apartment?  What are witnesses saying? There must be whole bunch of earwitnesses and maybe an eyewitness or two.


Good questions.  I read that the victims  were found in the garage but I don't know if that's true.


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## SoniT (Aug 26, 2019)

Laela said:


> wow.. interesting questions.. I have one that is bothering me.... why did dad call police for a welfare check at the house, instead of just going there himself?? I wonder what their relationship was up to that point.
> 
> I doubt anyone heard anything..looks like thy'd lived in a 4-sided brick, end-unit townhouse.. near a buffer...


The son's employer called the dad when the son didn't show up for work. The dad tried calling the son, daughter, and mom and was unable to reach any of them. Then he requested the welfare check. Maybe he knew that something strange was going on.


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## JFemme (Aug 26, 2019)

Did not realize she was divorced.. Seemed she might have had issues surrounding this relationship ending.


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## Alta Angel (Aug 26, 2019)

I hope that this was not a way for her to have the ultimate revenge against her ex.  My prayers to this family and the lifelong pain that those that remain must endure.


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## Reinventing21 (Aug 27, 2019)

But her kids were 20 & 24 tho.

I just cannot wrap my mind around her killing her kids. I feel like I need proof she did it instead of them all being murdered by someone else.

You have an interesting theory though. What makes you think she is a 'nice narcissist'?



Ivonnovi said:


> It is my belief that this was a combo of Emotional turmoil (or Trauma) mixed with Mental Illness.
> Almost as though the kids gave her some traumatic news she didn't handle well, and was s-e-v-e-r-e-l-y triggered.    This would be especially true if this _Nice Narcissist_ received some news that made her feel rejected or threatened; such as the kids deciding to move out from her and in with Dad.
> She snapped and regained control of the situation...once & for all.


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## Ivonnovi (Aug 27, 2019)

Reinventing21 said:


> But her kids were 20 & 24 tho.
> 
> I just cannot wrap my mind around her killing her kids. I feel like I need proof she did it instead of them all being murdered by someone else.
> 
> You have an interesting theory though. *What makes you think she is a 'nice narcissist'?*



Because:

On the surface they are generous, very charismatic, everyone loves them and life is goodt.    _A carefully crafted image/facade_
Below the surface they are controlling/control freaks, that become "_shook_" when what they perceive to be their peons rightfully exercise their free will.    (think of the generous but meddling mother-in-law; or the seemingly Charismatic husband that seeks to destroy his wife if she leaves him.)
When these folks are threatened, their Masks slips and what's behind it ain't pretty
The combination of mental and emotional illness' can be very toxic.  ....Oh and I watch the ID Channel ALOT.


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## Ms. Tarabotti (Aug 27, 2019)

Reinventing21 said:


> But her kids were 20 & 24 tho.
> 
> I just cannot wrap my mind around her killing her kids. I feel like I need proof she did it instead of them all being murdered by someone else.
> 
> You have an interesting theory though. What makes you think she is a 'nice narcissist'?



Or she could have been a family annihilator. These types of killers kill family members instead of strangers and often take their own lives as well. Ronald DeFeo Jr. (He killed his parents and siblings in Amityville, NY - one of the killings that was the basis for the Amityville Horror movies) and John List (killer of his mother, wife and children) were family annihilators.

 They are usually male but there have been cases of females killing their entire family. There are different types of family annihilators and most of the research seems to have been done on the male killers. Outwardly they seem 'normal' and have good lives but on the inside are often beset by psychological problems. 

I don't know anything about Dr. Edwards or her psychological makeup but maybe she felt that her world was crumbling around her no matter how perfect it seemed from the outside. Maybe the children were planning to leave the family nest and she felt that she couldn't protect them anymore (from real or imagined terrors), maybe she was beset by financial woes, maybe she suffered from an undiagnosed mental illness. If she was planning on killing herself, she might not have wanted her children to remain in this world without her protection (even though they were adults, she might have seen them as still needed her protection and guidance-due to her mental state she might not have been able to think clearly) so she killed them and then herself.

This is all speculation on my part, though.


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## Ivonnovi (Aug 27, 2019)

/\/\/\/\/\....Alla'Dat too!


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## secretdiamond (Sep 1, 2019)

I really don't like to spread "rumors," but here is some of what I "know"/"heard."

-  Marsha Edwards has supposedly always taken the divorce "hard," as she felt she put blood, sweat, and tears to help her ex build his practice and legacy. He is now with someone else (a former employee), but this woman now runs the practice with her ex. However, she has been his partner for years now. Nothing new. She is very nice.  I won't speculate or spread rumors on whether or not this woman played a role in their divorce.  Those things could be mutually exclusive.

-  Dr. Edwards and his girlfriend were said to be marrying in the near future. This may have triggered Marsha, with her depression and all..  

Either way, a psychotic break had to have happened for her to kill her adult children.

Now, none of this could have been the reason. It may just simply be that she mentally "snapped" from uncontrolled mental health issues.  

It's all so incredibly sad.


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## Duff (Sep 1, 2019)

^^when i first read this i thought this seems like revenge against the ex.


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## Theresamonet (Sep 2, 2019)

This case is so unique, that it seems like this just can’t be all there is to it... A nearly 60 year old, black woman, family annihilator?  A suicidal woman taking her ADULT kids with her? 

Have any additional details been released?


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## Reinventing21 (Sep 2, 2019)

Super tragic the entire story


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## SoniT (Sep 3, 2019)

I was thinking about this story today and how the children's lives were cut short right at the beginning of adulthood. Erin would be back at college now.  I still want to know what happened and why Marsha Edwards would do something so horrible.


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## Laela (Nov 28, 2019)

UPDATE:

Nov 13, 2019  |  By Shaddi Abusaid | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The ex-wife of a well-known Atlanta surgeon and civic leader repeatedly shot her son and daughter in her family’s upscale Vinings townhome before killing herself with a single bullet to the chest.

An autopsy released Wednesday by the Cobb County Medical Examiner’s Office paints a grisly picture of the double murder-suicide that claimed the lives of three members of a prominent metro Atlanta family three months ago.

Marsha Edwards, 58, shot 20-year-old Erin Edwards and 24-year-old Christopher Edwards II in late August before turning the gun on herself, police said. 

All three bodies were discovered during a wellness check at the home inside the gated Vinings Park East townhouse community. The neighborhood is located about a mile from Cumberland Mall. 

Erin Edwards was shot twice in the left arm and once in the chest, her autopsy revealed. Her body was discovered in the same room as her mother.

Christopher Edwards was shot six times, according to the autopsy result, once in the back of the head, once in the abdomen, twice in the back, once in his left arm and once in his shoulder. His body was found in his bed on a different level of the home than his sister and mother, authorities said. 

The autopsy findings do not indicate which of her children Marsha Edwards shot first. 

Her ex-husband, Christopher Edwards, is an orthopedic surgeon who chairs the Atlanta Housing Authority board. He also serves on the board of trustees of the Morehouse School of Medicine and formerly served on the board of Grady Memorial Hospital, AJC.com previously reported.

His son had been the digital content manager for the Atlanta film and entertainment office since March 2018, according to the city. Both he and his sister were Woodwood Academy graduates. Christopher went on to graduate from Elon University with a degree in media and arts entertainment.

Erin Edwards interned last summer in the mayor’s communications office. A student at Boston University, she was coming off a summer internship with an NBC station in New York.

Marsha Edwards formed MME Enterprises LLC, a medical equipment provider, in July 2015, according to the company’s website. 

Active in the community, she was also a member of several high-profile black organizations and civic groups, including the Atlanta Chapter of Jack and Jill of America and the Camellia Rose Chapter of The Links.

Earlier this year, Women Works Media Group named her one of Atlanta’s Most Powerful and Influential Women of 2019.

Both Marsha Edwards and her children were members of the National Association of Black Journalists, an organization that advocates for and supports black reporters.

At an Atlanta Housing Authority meeting in September, the elder Christopher Edwards thanked the public for the outpouring of support he received after the deaths of his family members. 

“The cards and prayers came from all over Georgia, not just Atlanta,” Edwards ahead of the housing authority’s meeting. “Then they came in from the nation, and most recently, they have now been coming in from the world. You reached me, and I thank you so very much.”


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## oneastrocurlie (Nov 30, 2019)

What in the world was going on???


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## dancinstallion (Nov 30, 2019)

I wonder how sure they are that she killed everybody and not someone else.


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## SoniT (Nov 30, 2019)

If no one else was involved, that means that she shot her own son six times. Wow.


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## Laela (Dec 1, 2019)

I'm having a hard time believing this woman was capable of shooting her son 6 times, but his body was in the bed and he was shot in the back of the head, which means he'd  likely been sleeping and was riddled with bullets to ensure death or eliminate a threat 
Usually,people who kill themselves aim at the mouth or head. The mom was shot in the chest..would like to see the angle of that shot...


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## SpiritJunkie (Dec 1, 2019)

Laela said:


> I'm having a hard time believing this woman was capable of shooting her son 6 times, but his body was in the bed and he was shot in the back of the head, which means he'd  likely been sleeping and was riddled with bullets to ensure death or eliminate a threat
> Usually,people who kill themselves aim at the mouth or head. The mom was shot in the chest..would like to see the angle of that shot...


Something fishy... I feel husband was involved


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## ThirdEyeBeauty (Dec 1, 2019)

Was a silencer used? How do you point it to your chest to shoot yourself?


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## doriannc (Dec 8, 2019)

Hmmm. 10 shots went off and no one heard anything? If son was sleeping, why shoot him 6 times? And she chooses to shoot herself in the chest? Hmm maybe she wanted an open casket funeral unlike her son...
But if this is an affluent family in medical practice, couldn’t the ME be paid off?


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## Ms. Tarabotti (Dec 9, 2019)

Laela said:


> I'm having a hard time believing this woman was capable of shooting her son 6 times, but his body was in the bed and he was shot in the back of the head, which means he'd  likely been sleeping and was riddled with bullets to ensure death or eliminate a threat
> Usually,people who kill themselves aim at the mouth or head. The mom was shot in the chest..would like to see the angle of that shot...



We would need to see autopsy photos (as unpleasant as that sounds). Was he shot in the abdomen first and then rolled over to be shot in his back and the back of his head? He could have been sleeping and awoke after he was first shot. We would need to determine which of the bullets was the first to be fired.
The mother might have shot herself in the chest depending on the angle of the bullet. It's a little difficult to do it holding the gun straight in front of you but if it was pointed at an angle (say by her stomach and the gun pointing upward), it might have been possible. They didn't mention anything about a silencer or the type of gun used but the mom did it, she would have had to stop and reload the gun. 

Sorry to be so graphic but a steady diet of Forensic Files and other shows will do that to you (plus I wanted to be a coroner when I was younger).


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