Navy Veteran, Mom-of-3 Is Killed in Carjacking While 'Helping Someone Else'
A U.S. Navy veteran and mother of three was fatally shot over the weekend during a carjacking attempt in Atlanta.
Renae Alexander, 44, was killed just before midnight on Nov. 2 after masked carjackers attempted to steal her silver Chevrolet Malibu as well as a vehicle her friend was driving.
Alexander’s family says she had been helping another friend move in to the Mechanicsville Station Apartments, an apartment complex in Southwest Atlanta where she’s a property manager, and was leaving the complex in her car when she was shot.
“She’s the property manager over there at those apartments, and she was helping a friend move in and decorate his apartment,” Alexander’s son Detavious Pharr told FOX 5. “She was just trying to leave when it happened, so she literally died helping someone else.”
According to police, Alexander was approached by a male suspect who tried to carjack her.
“As this was occurring, [Alexander’s friend] was getting into her vehicle when she noticed Ms. Alexander being carjacked,” a Atlanta Police Department press release states. “A second suspect then approached [the friend] and began carjacking her Chevrolet Camaro. At some point, as these two carjackings were occurring, one of the suspects fired several shots at Ms. Alexander, striking her in her side and leg.”
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Police say the friend who was moving into the complex was on the scene and was shot in the leg by a suspect while attempting to intervene. He was taken to Grady Hospital in stable condition.
Both suspects fled in the Camaro, which was later recovered by police.
Alexander, who served for two years in the Navy, was transported to Grady Hospital where she died from her injuries.
“It’s kind of hard because the situation that happened, she would’ve given them her car, they didn’t need to pull a gun out,” Damarius Edwards, Alexander’s nephew, told FOX5.
The driver of the Camaro was not injured during the incident.
According to the police press release, investigators believe there were at least four suspects involved in the incident. No arrests have been made and a police spokesman tells PEOPLE, “The investigation is still ongoing.”
Alexander was described as a generous and kind “wife, mother, and teacher” who “was the type to give you her last if you didn’t have it,” according to a GoFundMe page set up by her family to help raise funds for her funeral.
“To have your mother taken away by natural causes is one thing, but to take this beautiful woman away so early is horrible,” the post read.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers. Information can be submitted anonymously to the Crime Stoppers Atlanta tip line at 404-577-TIPS (8477) or online at www.StopCrimeATL.com. People do not have to give their name or any identifying information to be eligible for the reward of up to $2,000 for the arrest and indictment of the suspect.
