Man arrested in beating death of "Housewives" fiance remains at Grady

By Kristi E. Swartz

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A man charged in the beating death of Ashley "A.J." Jewell, who was once engaged to a "Real Housewives of Atlanta" member, remains at Grady Memorial Hospital Monday morning.

Fredrick Richardson will be taken to the Fulton County Jail once he is discharged, police said. The hospital would not release Richardson's condition.

Jewell, who until last August was engaged to Kandi Burruss, the newest member of the Atlanta "Housewives" reality show, died of massive head injuries at Piedmont Hospital. He was fatally injured in a "one-on-one" fight with Richardson in the parking lot of Body Tap, a strip club on Marietta Boulevard, last Friday night.

Jewell was part owner of Body Tap, a club popular with celebrities. Richardson is a club employee, but police told CNN that he and Jewell were both managers.

The cause of the fight is still not known.

Burruss was flooded with condolences on her social networking pages on Twitter.com and MySpace.com

She also sent a letter to the Website HelloBeautiful.com expressing grief over losing Jewell as well as her uncle, who recently died of cancer.

"I have lost two very important men in my life in one week. The 1st was my Uncle Ralph, the 2nd is A.J."

Burruss, who has a daughter, joined the other Atlanta "housewives" this season as they focus on their status, their clothes and who's arguing and why. Jewell, as Burruss' fiance, appeared occassionally on the show. In some episodes, the 33-year-old Burress argued with her mother over her relationship with Jewell, who was 34.

Burruss is an award-winning singer-songwriter and a solo performer. She was a member of the now-disbanded R&B group Xscape.

According to an interview with month with the entertainment Web site Essence.com, Burruss and Jewell had taken a "hiatus" from their relationship but remained friends while they worked on their issues.