Dean Phillips, 54, was shot and killed Thursday night outside Manuel’s Tavern after trying to prevent someone from breaking into cars. The heartbreaking, senseless crime echoes other incidents in metro Atlanta that have claimed the lives of good Samaritans.
Credit: Contributed / Family Photo
Credit: Contributed / Family Photo
In September 2019, Melvin Robinson died days after he attempted to stop vehicle burglars in East Point, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.
Robinson, 44, owned the Body Art and Laser shop in Camp Creek Marketplace. He and another man spotted people attempting to break into cars near the Lowe’s in the same shopping center, police previously said. Robinson was shot and critically injured. His wife spoke after his death.
“He has two sons that he loves,” Terra Robinson said. “They are not going to have a father on Father’s Day. On his birthday. I miss him so much.”
In July, a man who tried to stop another man from beating a woman outside a DeKalb County gas station was killed, according to police. Demario Parrish, a 36-year-old father of three, was shot to death while trying to help the woman at the Chevron station on the corner of Candler Road and Misty Waters Drive.
Atlanta’s roadways and interstates have also proven deadly for drivers who stop to help others.
In March, two people were struck by an SUV when they stopped to help a driver that wrecked during morning traffic in Forsyth County, officials said. John Waldon, a 48-year-old man from Cumming, died from his injuries.
Investigators said Waldon and another person who witnessed a crash were trying to open the driver’s side door of the wrecked car when a northbound Dodge Durango slammed into them. Deputies said the partially opened car door obstructed the view of the center lane, preventing the person driving the Durango from seeing the pedestrians.
In July 2019, a man who stopped to help a stranded driver on I-285 was hit and killed by a passing vehicle. The incident occurred around 10:30 p.m. in the westbound lanes near Buford Highway, according to DeKalb County police.
After seeing a vehicle stalled in a center lane 36-year-old Jeffery Skerritt got out of his own car to help, police said. He was struck by several vehicles and died from his injuries.
