Kalani Evans keeps replaying the image in his head. The memories of his father, Anthony Frazier, are blurred by the video of his death.
“That is exactly what plays in my head. I have great memories of him but that image just cuts in and it’s so hurtful because he didn’t deserve that,” Evans said. “I can’t forget the security footage. He was executed. It was just as vulgar and obscene as the very nature of gun violence itself.”
Frazier, 51, was shot and killed on April 18 outside the American Wings and Seafood restaurant on Cleveland Avenue, where he was a security guard. Stanley Henderson, 30, was arrested and charged with murder in Frazier’s death.
Video footage released by police shows a man calmly walking up behind Frazier and shooting him. Robbery was the motive, authorities say.
Frazier’s wife, Marlene Evans, still feels her husband’s presence.
“From the day I met him, he never changed, just got better,” she said. “All-around good guy. A jack of all trades, master of none.”
She said Frazier loved going to work and serving the community by providing security.
“Being able to serve was his joy, his passion,” she said. “Being in the presence of others, just being there to help, that is all he ever did, just helped, whether it was on the job or outside of the job.”
Credit: Family
Credit: Family
The video helped her piece things together but she wishes she hadn’t had to see it.
“He was there helping the community. He was a beacon of light that shined,” she said. “To me, he is still here, he is not gone.”
Kalani Evans believes his dad was targeted because he was a security guard.
Nine security guards, including four fatally, have been shot in metro Atlanta since April 2021, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has reported. Kalani said his father knew the risk of being a security guard but wanted to help people.
Kalani said more needs to be done to address mental health issues in the community instead of increasing police presence.
“My dad was an exceptional security officer,” he said. “He was big on de-escalation, he said he’d rather talk to the perpetrator than shoot them. That’s what he would have done with (the suspect) but he never had a chance.”
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