She wasn’t even supposed to be off yet from her second-shift job at the airport. And Tiara Bogan Jones wasn’t the intended target, her family said.
But late Friday, the 25-year-old finished working earlier than normal, and when her friend asked for a ride, Jones agreed. She picked up her friend and the friend’s boyfriend, and the three had a late meal at JJ Fish & Chicken on Pryor Street.
But from there, Jones’ SUV was followed and numerous shots were fired, her sister told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Out of the three people in the SUV, only one was hit.
“My sister was the only one who got shot,” Tikishal Leslie said Thursday.
Jones was shot in the face early Saturday as she drove on Milton Avenue near Hank Aaron Drive and Turner Field. The SUV crashed and overturned, according to police. Jones’ passengers were pulled from the wreckage and taken to Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment. Jones did not survive.
“She died at the scene before the ambulance got there,” Leslie said.
No arrests have been made in the fatal shooting, but Atlanta police have several leads, Leslie said. Her family believes it was her friend’s boyfriend who was being targeted and not Jones.
Instead, a mother of two girls, ages 3 and 7, was killed. Since their mother’s death, Tailissa, 7, and Tamirra, 3, have been staying with Leslie, who has three kids of her own. The younger girl doesn’t really understand where her mother is, but the older sister has moments were she has to be consoled.
Leslie said her own mother was in Africa doing mission work when Jones died, but she was able to return to Atlanta late Tuesday to be with her family.
Nia Imani recalled the moment she was told about her daughter’s death.
“I screamed. I’d never felt such pain,” she said Thursday evening. “From my womb to my heart, there was pain.”
Jones’ little girls have helped the family during the tragedy.
“They’re still so innocent,” Leslie said. “Looking at them makes you feel a little better.”
In the days after Jones was killed, Leslie said the gloomy, rainy weather matched the family’s mood. But the sun was shining when the family was able to claim Jones’ body and begin making funeral arrangements.
“We know she was looking down,” Leslie said. “We got her. We got her. She’s at peace now.”
Her family hopes to have Jones’ funeral Monday at Gregory Levett & Sons Funeral Home, but it will cost about $3,500. About 75 people attended a candlelight vigil Thursday evening at the site where Jones died.
“She cared about everybody,” Imani, her mother, said. “She was honest. She was hardworking. She was fun.”
Anyone wishing to assist the family can donate to the Tiara Bogan Jones Donation Foundation at any Wells Fargo branch. Any money left over from funeral costs will go to Jones’ daughters.
—Photographer Ben Gray contributed to this article.
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