When the paths crossed early Sunday of two men staying doors apart in a DeKalb County hotel for markedly different reasons, a shooting occurred that left one of them dead and the other in jail.
Tito Ivey was visiting from Columbia County with his wife to shop and celebrate her birthday. Franklin Jones, 32, was at the hotel with his girlfriend and three children because they had no where else to stay.
Now details are coming out that offer an explanation about how Ivey ended up being charged with murder.
Tameika Ivey said her husband feared for his life when he shot a man inside the Hyatt Place hotel near Stonecrest mall. Ivey, 35, shot Jones after he saw him reach into his pocket and feared he was going to shoot and rob him, Tameika Ivey said.
Tameika Ivey told Channel 2 Action News that her husband was frantic when he burst into their hotel room moments after the shooting on the hotel’s fifth floor and asked her to call 911. Her husband is not prone to anger and not a man who would use deadly force except in self-defense, she said.
DeKalb police say they found no evidence of a gun or struggle.
“There (were) no signs of a struggle (and) Jones was not armed,” Mekka Parish told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Jones was shot around 3 a.m. after behaving erratically at the pool at the hotel on Mall Ring Road near Lithonia, police said. Tameika Ivey told Channel 2 her husband had given Jones a beer before heading back to the hotel room. Tito Ivey said Jones, followed him, saying they need to talk more about making money, according to the police report.
Jones was staying in the hotel with his girlfriend and her children after a bout of homelessness when he lost his job as a printer two years ago, the girlfriend, Jennifer Liggons, told television station CBS 46.
The hotel manager had found a room for them after speaking with a church group who was assisting them, Liggons said. The church group said the family could keep the room until they had a place to live, Liggons said.
Jones’ and Liggons’ room was a few doors away from the one booked by the Iveys.
“We’ve only been here about a week now,” Liggons told the news station.
Ivey is still DeKalb County jail with no bond set.
“A one-day trip like turned into something that’s going to affect you for the rest of your life,” said Tameika Ivey.
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