A defense attorney argued that a 45-year-old woman was led to kill her husband of five days because she has suffered a lifetime of abuse.
“She’s a victim of post-traumatic stress disorder,” said Liz Markowitz, the attorney for Arelisha Bridges, who is charged with killing her 26-year-old husband on March 1, just yards from the Varsity on North Avenue.
After hearing from one of the detectives called to the scene where Anthony Rankins died, Fulton Judge Karen Woodson declined to set bail; Woodson said she would revisit the bail issue in a hearing next month.
Police say Bridges, registered with the state as a lobbyist for a group fighting domestic violence, shot Rankins during an argument. She was wearing a nightgown and a shower cap when she confronted him on a Midtown sidewalk, witnesses said.
Atlanta homicide investigator Michael Willis testified at a preliminary hearing Wednesday that several witnesses heard Bridges and Rankins arguing moments before they heard five shot just after 10:30 p.m.
Willis said a group of carhops working at the Varsity were intrigued when Bridges pulled into the driveway of the restaurant, leaving part of the SUV in a traffic lane and the engine running.
They said they saw her take a revolver out of her left pocket and then follow Rankins east on North Avenue, past the intersection with Spring Street and almost to West Peachtree Street.
“He just kept walking away and she kept following,” the investigator testified.
At the same time, John Ligon was walking behind the arguing couple and “was about to ask for change” when he heard the shots, Willis testified.
“'She stood over him and unloaded,'” Willis said, quoting Ligon.
Willis said Rankins was shot in the head and the chest.
Within moments, a MARTA police officer detained Bridges as she was getting into her SUV to leave, Willis said.
Bridges is charged with felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. She is in the Fulton County Jail.
Bridges and Rankins, married on Feb. 24, lived in a rented condominium nearby. She told police she was unemployed, but state records show she lobbies for an organization called the National Declaration for Domestic Violence Order; its Web site says the group is pushing legislation to create a database of those convicted of sex crimes or domestic abuse.
While Markowitz told of some of Bridges’ experiences that might have caused her to become violent, she also focused on Rankins’ history.
The investigator said no family claimed his body.
“I don’t know anything about Mr. Rankins,” Willis testified.
“Is it possible Mr. Rankins’ real name is not Anthony Rankins?” Markowitz asked.
The defense attorney said Bridges “remembered” finishing the “eighth or ninth” grade and had been in several violent relationships since.
Markowitz said Bridges already was scarred emotionally by a stabbing assault on her several years ago, after which she was pushed from a car “and left for dead.”
Markowitz pointed out that Rankins had a knife in one of his pants pockets.
“Clearly there was an argument that was being held. Mr. Rankins had a knife on him. A few days earlier, he had threatened her,” Markowitz said.
Prosecutor Jack Barr responded, “She is a danger to the public. She was the aggressor. She pursued the victim. The victim did not go after her. It was the other way around. She is unstable.”
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