‘I’m tore to pieces’: Vigil held for teen couple killed in Gwinnett

Channel 2's Matt Johnson reports

Jaquille Thomas and Angelique Bowman were boyfriend and girlfriend, family said, two peas in a teenage pod. Eighteen and 19 years old, respectively, they were both supposed to start college Tuesday.

Instead, their loved ones gathered for a candlelight vigil.

“That was my baby,” Thomas’ grandfather, Gean Harden, told Channel 2 Action News. “I’m just hurt, I’m tore to pieces, man. It’s like my heart…that was my heart man.”

Thomas and Bowman were killed Monday, found dead about 200 yards apart on Wandering Way, a residential street near Norcross. Surveyors working in the subdivision discovered Thomas' body lying between two homes around 9:25 a.m. and, about 90 minutes later, officers responding to an unrelated theft call found Bowman's body inside an SUV in the parking lot of the neighborhood's clubhouse.

Gwinnett County police have said both teens lived in the Stone Mountain area, nowhere near the Norcross subdivision. Detectives are still attempting to figure out why they were there — and, of course, who shot them.

“There are no updates at this time,” Cpl. Deon Washington said Wednesday morning.

At the Tuesday night vigil attended by dozens of family and friends, Thomas’ grandfather described Bowman as “a sweet girl.”

“They were close,” he told Channel 2.

Anyone with information in the case is asked to contact homicide detectives at 770-513-5300. Tipsters can also remain anonymous — and be eligible for rewards up to $2,000 — by contacting Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS or crimestoppersatlanta.org.