Autumn Ernst checks for updates almost every day about the man accused of killing her son, who worked as a valet in Buckhead.
She received another small piece of closure Monday: Randy King had been indicted in the fatal shooting. It just took three weeks amid the holiday season to hear about the filing in Fulton County Superior Court.
“Obviously, great news,” she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday afternoon. “But (prosecutors said) this (case) could take two to five years.”
Credit: Atlanta Police Department
Credit: Atlanta Police Department
King is facing seven charges, including three counts of murder, after he allegedly shot 25-year-old Harrison Olvey outside a LongHorn Steakhouse in the Uptown Atlanta development, previously known as Lindbergh City Center. Olvey was handling parking services for a nearby nightclub early Sept. 3 when he noticed King breaking into the pickup truck of someone he knew, according to police. He asked King what he was doing and was shot without warning, Ernst said.
The recent Kennesaw State University graduate died at a hospital, while a search was coordinated for King, who was placed on the Atlanta Police Department’s Most Wanted list.
In mid-October, King was taken into custody.
Ernst said her family learned about his arrest from a detective as they sat around their Suwanee home’s dinner table next to Olvey’s empty seat. They had just finished making a toast to him moments earlier.
“Nothing will ever bring back Harrison, but I am very relieved that Randy King is off the street,” Ernst told the AJC at the time.
Unable to put up her son’s stocking and decorations this year, Ernst spent Christmas in Nashville away from their home.
Credit: Autumn Ernst
Credit: Autumn Ernst
“I couldn’t be here with all the memories with Harrison,” she told the AJC. “It’s just too painful.”
Ernst continues to monitor the case, she said, and even signed up to get notified whenever King is moved from his incarcerated location. After the holidays, the mother reached out again to her contact at the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office. On Monday, she was informed that King was indicted.
“I want him to pay,” Ernst said.
King was charged Dec. 18 with malice murder, two counts of felony murder, aggravated assault, entering an automobile to commit a theft, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a first offender probationer, according to court records.
In 2018, he was arrested after he and another teenager led police on a high-speed chase in a Jaguar from Newnan onto I-85, before wrecking in Coweta County, authorities said. He was 17 at the time.
Prosecutors said the murder case will continue into its pretrial phase, though a first hearing has not been scheduled.
Ernst said the uncertainty makes her feel like a plane stuck on a runway.
Credit: Autumn Ernst
Credit: Autumn Ernst
“I’m in a holding pattern,” she added. “Everybody gets back to their lives as they should ... (but) it still feels like a standstill because I can’t believe he’s gone. It kills me.”
About the Author
