Candy Grimes said she had hoped the security guard who police said acknowledged shooting her unarmed son last Saturday would be arrested before the 18-year-old's funeral.
But as Grimes prepares to bury Ervin Jefferson on Saturday afternoon -- one week after he was fatally shot in front of his mother's home on Pleasantwood Drive in DeKalb County -- Curtis Scott is out of jail after posting bond on a charge of impersonating a police officer.
"Who's to say he won't disappear?" Grimes told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Friday.
DeKalb police are revealing little about their investigation. Scott, 25, told responding officers that Jefferson had approached him in an aggressive manner and he responded with a fatal shot to the torso. Calls seeking comment from Scott and family members were not returned.
At some point, police said, Jefferson's stepfather, Bobby Hubbard Jr., 35, fired gunshots in the direction of the two cars parked in front of the home he shares with Grimes. Hubbard was charged with reckless conduct and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
It's unclear if the exchange of gunfire started before Jefferson's shooting. However, based on versions of events from Grimes and police, it seems unlikely, as both cars remained parked outside the Pleasantwood Drive home up until the moment Jefferson, his mother and younger sister returned home around 10:20 p.m.
DeKalb police said Scott and Gary Jackson, 26, were on duty a few hundred yards away at the Village at Wesley Chapel Apartments on Saturday night before venturing down the street to investigate a "suspicious" vehicle, according to police.
They encountered a vehicle containing four females who, police said, were there to settle a score with Jefferson's 17-year-old sister, Precious. The two guards illegally detained the women, telling them they were police officers, DeKalb Public Safety Director William Miller said earlier this week.
Former Atlanta city councilman Derrick Boazman noted some similarities between Jefferson's case and the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, the Florida teen killed following an apparent scuffle with a neighborhood watch captain.
“There are some parallels here,” he said, noting both victims were unarmed black teens who died under suspicious circumstances involving a neighborhood guard. “It appears it’s open season on young black men.”
But Jefferson's case has drawn scant attention outside of Atlanta.
Meanwhile, the board that oversees security guard companies has already begun an investigation of Scott, Jackson and their employer, Shepperson Security & Escort Services in Kennesaw.
Tripp Mitchell, a member of the Georgia Board of Private Detective and Security Agencies, said the oversight panel has the power to revoke Shepperson's permit if such action is deemed necessary. The security contractor has not responded to requests for comment.
Mitchell said he is unfamiliar with Shepperson and was reluctant to judge the firm before knowing all the facts. However, he did note that guards are, "as a rule of thumb," strongly discouraged from leaving their post, as Scott and Jackson did that night.
--Staff writer Katie Leslie contributed to this article.
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