'Respect' may have been behind 'Housewives' fiance slaying

By Steve Visser

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Ashley “A.J” Jewell may have been killed because he didn’t think he was getting enough deference at a west Atlanta strip club that he was investing in, police said Monday.

Police have charged a club employee, Frederick Richardson, with voluntary manslaughter in the beating death of Jewell, the former fiance of the newest member of the reality television show “The Real Housewives of Atlanta.”

“They had some words about a business decision,” said Lt. Keith Meadows, head of Atlanta Police’s homicide unit. “It seems like it was a struggle for power over the club.”

Jewell’s family said he was buying all or part of the Body Tap on Marietta Boulevard, said Joyce Farley-Sands, spokeswoman for the family. Jewell had been a promoter of entertainment acts and had a recording studio, Farley-Sands said.

Richardson, 45, was booked into the Fulton County jail Monday afternoon after being hospitalized with injuries from the Friday night fight with the 34-year-old Jewell, said Tracy Flanagan, spokeswoman for the Sheriff Office.

Meadows said the two men had an ongoing dispute. Richardson was a club manager, Meadows said. He said that he understood that Jewell had invested in the club but he had not verified it.

“Apparently they just didn’t like each other,” Meadows said. “A.J. felt like he deserved more respect from Richardson and it wasn’t given to him.”

Jewell, who was engaged to Kandi Burruss until late August, died at Piedmont Hospital from massive head injuries. Witnesses described the fight as “one-on-one,” Meadows said.

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

Burruss, an award-winning singer-songwriter and a solo performer, thanked friends for their condolences and asked for prayers for Jewell’s six children.

Burruss, who was a member of the now-disbanded R&B group Xscape, joined the other Atlanta “housewives” this season as they focus on their status, their clothes and who’s arguing and why.

Jewell appeared occasionally on the show. In some episodes he argued with her mother over Burruss’ relationship with Jewell.

The Internet has been abuzz with rumors of Jewell’s past and the reasons for the fight, most of which Meadows said could not be verified and could be false. Posters on the Internet have said that the fight was over a stripper at the club, which Meadows said he believed was untrue.

Meadows said that Jewell had arrests on theft-related and gun charges in the past but said he had not extensively reviewed the criminal history. The investigation also found an extensive history on Richardson, Meadows said.

In Fulton County, both Richardson and Jewell have had brushes with the law, Flanagan said. According to Fulton County jail records, Jewell was arrested for battery and domestic violence in 2006 and on aggravated assault and firearms charges in 2003.

Richardson was arrested for battery and obstruction of police officers in 2001 and 2003, Flanagan said.

Staff writers Rhonda Cook and Ernie Suggs contributed to this story.