Henry Horton III had a million-dollar smile, so much so that it lifted his family’s spirits when they were having a bad day.
But that changed Friday when a client found Horton, a local hairstylist, shot dead in his living room in southwest Atlanta.
“I just don’t understand,” sister Ashley Horton said, holding back tears. “He would give someone his last if anyone asked for it.”
After their mother passed in 2009, Horton took care of his little sister Ashley, giving her anything she needed.
“It probably got on his nerves, but he was still giving,” she said, “He would never let me go without.”
Ashley Horton said her brother was focused on living a positive life, posting aphorisms on his Facebook page that anyone could apply to their life.
It’s why the murky details of his death don’t add up.
Police said Horton was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds to the head. The client who found him told family members that she knocked on the door and didn’t get an answer.
When the client turned the doorknob, family said, that’s when she knew it was unlocked. She walked in to find Horton slumped over in the living room.
Family said police told them that Horton may have been dead for a while, judging from the bloodstains.
Ashley Horton said the last time anyone had heard from Horton was Wednesday.
What complicates the death even more for loved ones is how protective Horton was of his home.
“He didn’t let anyone in his house if they didn’t call first,” said Horton’s aunt, Jacqueline Walton. This has led her to believe he was shot by someone he knew.
“If he let you in his house, he had to trust,” she said. “He probably didn’t see it coming.”
Walton said someone made off with his television, PlayStation, money and cellphone.
“You just don’t do that,” she said. “He would’ve given it to them.”
Police were still investigating Horton’s death Friday. His body was taken to the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Officer for an autopsy.
Horton’s funeral is set for noon Saturday at Dixie Hills First Baptist Church in Atlanta. Friends and family can view the body between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m.
