Felisha Warr was forced to explain to her nieces and nephews that their mother, 31-year-old Deanna Fuller, had been fatally shot after her body was discovered in the Union City apartment she shared with her boyfriend.
In a voice strained with emotion, Warr detailed the experience of talking to Fuller’s five older children, who live in foster care, in an exclusive interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday.
Warr originally planned to have her sister cremated, but the children made one specific request for the end-of-life services: a viewing so they could see their mother one last time.
Their request inspired Warr’s goal for the GoFundMe page she set up in her sister’s honor.
“My goal is just to raise $6,800 to make sure those babies are able to see their mother one last time,” said Warr, who indicated that amount would cover the cost of the viewing service.
Warr, who has already been caring for her infant niece since Fuller’s death May 16, said she was grateful she had re-established a close relationship with her sister before she was killed.
Fisher and Fuller, a mother of six who was pregnant with her seventh child, lived together at the Premier Club Apartments on Highpoint Road with his father, Trevor Fisher. Neither Fuller nor Fisher had a job or a car, so Warr said she often provided transportation and dropped in for visits.
On the day of Fuller’s death, Union City police said, Joshua Fisher and his father left her wounded in the ground-floor apartment and went to a party. Police believe one of the men made an abrupt call to 911 to report Fuller’s apparent gunshot wound to the head.
When officers arrived at the scene around 10:25 p.m., neighbors told them they heard about five gunshots but did not see who was shooting. Investigators found evidence of a single shot, one 9mm shell casing in a grassy area outside the apartment.
Warr said Joshua Fisher dropped off the couple’s infant daughter with his brother, who then called Warr to pick her up. She hasn’t heard from Fisher since her sister’s death.
At first, police called Fisher a person of interest in the case and said they wanted to question him. But the case has since been ruled a homicide, and Fisher was charged in Fuller’s death Wednesday.
Fisher’s father, meanwhile, was arrested Friday on obstruction charges. He was initially questioned when he returned to the apartment as police investigated the scene.
Warr said Fuller and Joshua Fisher had been together for a year or two, but that they had a much longer on-and-off history. She described her sister as a resilient woman who was on the right track despite a hard life.
The last time Warr saw her sister alive, she noticed an injury to her head. “She had a little gash on her head ... she’s like, ‘Don’t worry about it.’”
So far, the fundraiser for Fuller’s final arrangements has raised more than $4,600. Warr said she’s been overwhelmed by the community’s support.
“I’m past grateful ... The outpouring is just amazing,” she said.
Warr, who has kids of her own, wrote that she would happily help care for Fuller’s children on the fundraising page.
“But if anyone can help with this it would mean the world to her family. She (Fuller) has no life insurance, so everything must come out of pocket. She will have a proper burial and funeral because that is the least she deserves. Thanks everyone for the love and support,” Warr wrote.
Anyone with information on Joshua Fisher’s whereabouts is asked to contact Union City police at 770-515-7991.
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