Alleged home invader flees at woman's offer to pray

By David Ibata

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Call it the power of prayer: An alleged home invader in Lithia Springs fled after his would-be victim told him she would pray for him. Now, he’s being held without bond in the Douglas County Jail.

Jamaal Alexander Pinkey, of Austell, was arrested Wednesday in connection with the New Year’s Eve incident, according to Lt. Bruce Ferguson of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.

The 22-year-old Pinkey allegedly broke a window out at a Marsh Avenue home on Jan. 30 and returned the following night. Once inside, he confronted Brenda Ann Miller, 63, and Joyce Godfrey, 78, as they were watching television.

“He put a gun right to my cheek, and he walked me backward,” Miller told Channel 2 Action News.

The intruder was dressed in black, and his face was covered. He demanded valuables, and shouted and cursed at them. He dumped their purses on the floor looking for cash and credit cards but didn’t find anything.

“I knew God was with me, but at the same time, I didn’t know who was on his side,” Miller said. “He said, ‘I ought to shoot you.’ And I said, ‘I’ll pray for you.’ That really took him back.”

Godfrey said of her friend, “She was like a bantey rooster right at his mouth.”

Ferguson said that at the mention of prayer, the intruder “got disgusted and left empty-handed.”

Members of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and Douglasville Police Department jointly investigated the incident. Earlier this month, they took Pinkey’s girlfriend into custody and charged her with criminal conspiracy to commit burglary.

When the woman, Raven Stephens, 22, also of Austell, posted bond Wednesday, she called her boyfriend to come get her, Ferguson said. He did. Then, deputies fell in behind the man’s car, stopped him and took him into custody.

Pinkey is charged with burglary, aggravated assault, criminal attempt to commit a felony and interference with a 911 call, according to Douglas County Sheriff’s jail records. Police said they continue to seek a third suspect, the alleged driver of a getaway car.

After police captured Pinkey, Godfrey was stunned to realize she knew him.

“What frightens me to this minute is that his grandmother worked and helped me with my mother for about three months before she died,” she said. “I know that kid – his name is Jamaal, [he has] long dreadlocks.”

Miller said, “I feel sorry for him. He apparently hasn't known the power of good.”