At 30, it seemed life for Agala Dwayne Samuels was just beginning.
Samuels’ wife Lisa told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he’d just started a new job as a construction contractor at the top of the year. At about that time, the couple was six months into their marriage.
“He was very motivated and ambitious,” Lisa Samuels said. “...The past couple of months he just worked.”
But just as he was starting new chapters, Samuels was fatally shot. He was found dead Sept. 23 inside his truck in a parking lot near The Atrium and Club 426 on Memorial Drive, DeKalb County police said.
Authorities arrested Ryan Meade, 42, of Lithonia, on Wednesday in the deadly shooting, jail records show. Meade allegedly shot Samuels in the stomach several times, according to redacted arrest warrants. Police have not said if the men knew each other or what led to the supposed argument outside Club 426.
Further details on Meade’s arrest have not been released.
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Witnesses near the scene told police they heard three shots and saw Samuels’ pickup truck slam into a blue 2007 Nissan Versa, according to the police report. Another person told police Samuels had been involved in an argument earlier that night, but it is not clear what the argument was about.
A promoter at a nearby lounge said he saw a man walk from Samuels’ truck, get in a “box-style vehicle” and drive onto Memorial Drive, according to the report.
Police said Samuels was on the phone at the time of the shooting, but details of the conversation were not included in the report. The person on the other end told police she heard Samuels arguing with a man.
In an interview with The AJC last week, Lisa Samuels described her husband as “charismatic, lovable and funny.”
They’d known each other for seven years, but started dating two years before they married, she said.
“He would always bring joy around so it’s hard to pick one (memory),” Lisa Samuels said between sobs. “There (were) always happy moments.”
Services for Samuels will be held 11 a.m., Oct. 20 at The Pentecostals Of McDonough on 1181 Highway 42 N, according to a funeral announcement. A viewing will be held Oct. 19 from 3 to 7 p.m. at W.D. Lemon & Sons Funeral Home in McDonough on 300 Griffin Street.
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