A security guard accused of gunning down a colleague at a Buckhead tower earlier this month told authorities that God had ordered him to do so, according to testimony Friday in Atlanta.

At a preliminary hearing, a police detective testified that Dexter Harper told him at the scene why he killed Emmanuel C. Nwankwo, 23, of Riverdale..

“He [Harper] said that he could see that he [Nwankwo] had a demon in him,” Det. Eugene Harper said, according to Channel 2 Action News. “Another reason that he gave, later on the interview, he said God told him to do it.”

Nwankwo was shot multiple times early Oct. 1 at.an office tower in the 3300 block of Peachtree Road. A gun was recovered at the scene, police said.

At the time, police said they did not have a motive beyond some type of verbal argument that escalated to gunfire.

On Friday, the victim’s father, Emmanuel Nwankwo Sr., pleaded with a judge to deny Harper bond.

“A part of me was killed and yet to be buried in the ground,” the grieving father said.

The judge denied bond and set the next court date for November. Harper’s attorney, Manny Arora, told Channel 2 his client will undergo a psychological evaluation.

The tower where the shooting occurred was formerly known as Tower Place 200 but is now called 3348 Peachtree

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Roey Shoshan sits inside the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta in Dunwoody on Friday, June 27, 2025. Shoshan was born and raised in Israel and has lived in the United States for more than a decade. (Natrice Miller/AJC)