The man accused of killing a great-grandmother is expected to make his first court appearance at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in Douglas County Superior Court.
Ten days after being released from the Douglas County jail, Odes Dupree allegedly tied up a great-grandmother and covered her face, leaving her to die inside her apartment, according to police. Investigators believe items were then removed from the apartment to pay off a drug debt.
Dupree, 53, of Douglasville, has been charged with murder in the death of 75-year-old Florene Duke, Douglasville police Chief Chris Womack said late Tuesday. Dupree had been staying in a nearby apartment at the time of Duke’s death, Womack said.
“We have reason to believe he had been in her home before, knew what she had, what she had available,” Womack told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
On the evening of Nov. 10, a family member found Duke dead inside her Selman Drive apartment. She had been tied up and her face covered, leaving her unable to breathe and causing her death, according to police. Some of Duke’s belongings, including two television sets, were removed, and police suspect robbery was a motive.
“We can’t even imagine an animal done this way, much less a human being,” Womack said Tuesday night.
Detectives from the Douglasville Police Department and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office have worked the case nonstop, and “solid, grassroots” police work led to the arrest, Womack said. Dupree was also charged with burglary and robbery, according to police. He was being held without bond late Tuesday.
A giving woman known as “Nanny” to many, Duke was known to offer money or a place to stay to those who needed it, her grandson previously said. Her death shocked the community and her family.
“Why would someone do this to my grandmama,” Duke’s grandson, Chris Duke, said the night of her death. “My grandmama wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
According to Douglas County jail records, Dupree was released Oct. 31 after serving three weeks for a probation violation. In the spring, Dupree spent six weeks in jail following an arrest on a theft charge, according to booking records.
Duke, who would have turned 76 on Christmas Day, was married to her husband for 50 years until his death in 2007. She is survived by numerous relatives, including four grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild, her obituary stated.
— Photographer Ben Gray contributed to this report.
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