Amber Holliman recently ended her relationship with a man police now say killed the 39-year-old mother and left her to burn inside her Sandy Springs home.
Patrick "P.J." Nolan is wanted on charges of murder and arson in connection with Holliman’s death. Sandy Springs police said she died from blunt force trauma and a gunshot wound to the head.
A $10,000 reward has been offered by police for the arrest and conviction of Nolan. Police said his last known location was in southern Louisiana on Saturday afternoon.
The woman’s 18-year-old daughter, Payton Holliman, graduated from Riverwood International Charter School in Fulton County on Thursday.
She’s now on her own.
“I keep wanting to call my mom and ask her what to do and I can’t,” Payton Holliman told Channel 2 Action News.
Sandy Springs firefighters found Holliman’s body Saturday afternoon inside her burning Hammond Drive home. Investigators believe the fire was intentionally set.
The next day, Sandy Springs police named Nolan, her 43-year-old ex-boyfriend, as the suspect in her death. They have taken out warrants for his arrest on charges of murder, aggravated assault and first-degree arson.
MORE: Man charged with murder, arson in Sandy Springs house fire
Payton Holliman said she considered Nolan like a father. She even called him dad, the news station reported.
“We let him be a part of our family and he took my whole family,” she said.
Friends have organized a GoFundMe campaign to help Payton Holliman find stable footing in the wake of her mother’s death. Holliman said her mom was her best friend.
“It was always me and her since I was little. She had me when she was 21 and she dropped out of school and got a better job to make more money,” she told Channel 2.
They were also co-workers. Holliman helped to secure a job for her daughter at the Rusty Nail, the Brookhaven pub where she worked, the news station reported.
Katie Allen, the fundraising campaign’s organizer, told Channel 2 that Payton Holliman is worried about finances and navigating adulthood on her own at a time when “she needs to grieve.”
By Tuesday night, Allen’s GoFundMe campaign had collected more than $6,800 of its $10,000 goal.
MORE: GoFundMe page
Friends of the family are also helping to secure a new home or a foster home for Holliman’s dog. They are asking anyone who wants to assist to call 404-518-6148.
Nolan is still on the run. He is considered armed and dangerous and may be traveling with his mastiff-breed dog, a 160-pound Presa Canario, police said. Nolan is believed to be driving a blue 2006 Ford Explorer with Georgia tag PYZ1420.
Payton Holliman told Channel 2 she won’t feel safe until he’s behind bars.
“I can’t grieve yet until he is found,” she said. “I can’t do anything, I am stuck just missing her and I can’t accept that she is gone or anything until I get justice for her.”
Anyone with information on Nolan’s whereabouts should contact Sandy Springs police Detective J.T. Williams at 404-456-9343 or call 911.
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