Little information surrounding Buckhead apartment murder

By Kristi E. Swartz

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta homicide detectives continue to investigate the shooting death of ZaQuavia Kingsberry, the woman found in her boyfriend's Buckhead apartment Wednesday afternoon.

Little information, including the boyfriend's name, has been released since the incident happened.

Authorities said they wanted to make one thing clear, however:

"It was not a random act," said Carlos Campos, Atlanta police spokesman.

Kingsberry was found in her boyfriend's fourth-floor apartment at the Gramercy at Buckhead Apartments, in the 3300 block of Roswell Road.

She had been shot two or three times, Atlanta Police Maj. Keith Meadows said.

Kingsberry, 33, was visiting from Raleigh, N.C., where she worked at a homeless shelter.

She was a weekend staffer at the Helen Wright Center for Women, a transitional shelter for 230 women each year.

She also was a single mother, with children ages 15 and 4, according to Anne Burke, executive director of Urban Ministries, which runs the shelter.

"We're all in shock," Burke told the AJC on Thursday. "The women will be coming back into the shelter at 4 this afternoon, they'll probably have heard about it by then. This is going to be a very difficult day for all of us."

The woman's boyfriend told police they had eaten breakfast together at the apartment.

The boyfriend told police he left the apartment and returned later to find the woman shot dead, Meadows said.

Meadows said detectives do not have any suspects at this point, nor have they ruled anyone out. Police told the AJC that the initial call to 911 came from a neighbor.

“We’re working with the police to assist them in any way we can with the investigation," said Amanda Pressley, regional vice president of the Simpson Property Group, which owns the apartment complex.

Pressley told the AJC police were already on the scene before she arrived.

Kingsberry's mother has worked at the shelter since 1997, and her daughter joined her on staff about 18 months ago, Burke said.

"She was a very good employee, very dependable, and she just seemed to be a wonderful person," Burke said.

Residents found out about the killing as they returned home late Wednesday afternoon.

"I personally don’t know her, but I’ve seen her walking around," Caragh Stichter, 24, told the AJC.

Stichter moved into the apartments two months ago from Jacksonville, Fla., and lived three doors down from where the killing occurred.

“I’ve seen nothing out of the ordinary here,” Stichter told the AJC. “It’s a safe community. You say that it could never happen, but it happened three doors down from me.”

Stichter was on her cell phone calling other neighbors to give them the news.

"Your next door neighbor was shot and killed," she said while on the phone.

"It’s a little nerve-wracking. My hand is shaking," she told the AJC. "It would be nice to have answers."

“Everyone is like, ‘We want to break our lease,’” Stichter said.

Ryan Taylor, 26, said he saw police arriving at the apartment complex just before 3 p.m. He thought nothing of it until friends started sending him e-mails about a shooting.

Taylor told the AJC he's lived at the apartments for less than a year. He's worried about his safety now.

Check back with ajc.com for more.

-- Staff writers Curtis Compton, Angel K. Brooks, Mike Morris and Larry Hartstein contributed to this report.