Police were searching for clues late Wednesday in an effort to catch whoever is responsible for killing a 69-year-old businesswoman inside her South Park Avenue furniture store earlier in the day.
Houston County Deputy Coroner Ben Earnest said it appears Grace Bridges suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the chest.
A Dothan police statement said the murder likely happened between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Wednesday at Bridges’ business, Dedert’s Furniture and Antiques, located on South Park Avenue near Fortner Street.
Dothan Police Capt. Steve Parrish said it was the first murder for the city of Dothan in 2010.
Jermaine Potter remembered waiving at Bridges as he walked his dog by her Dothan furniture and antique business.
Potter who lives a few blocks away, said he will likely see about getting a gun for protection after the slaying in his neighborhood.
“It’s time to get a gun, it’s time to protect myself,” Potter said as he left a Fortner Street convenience store near Dedert’s Furniture. “It’s a very quiet neighborhood. It’s the most police I’ve seen since I was shot.”
Potter, 21, said he suffered a gunshot wound to his neck from a shotgun blast when he was 10 years old at a residence at the corner of South Park Avenue and Woodland Avenue. Potter’s mother, Pitnita Potter, said the murder in her neighborhood left her in shock.
“For them to take an elderly person’s life, there’s no excuse,” Potter said. “I think it’s wrong. I hope they find them and do justice.”
Antonio Hammonds, 24, of South Park Avenue, recalled going in the furniture store several times, and said a friend of his even bought a bed there.
“This don’t usually happen here, it’s Dothan’s first subdivision, Houston Heights,” Hammonds said. “That woman ain’t done nothing to nobody. She was always so friendly.”
Brandon Bridges, 24, who lives next door to the business, said he used to help the woman move furniture in her store. He is not related to Grace Bridges.
“She had no enemies,” Bridges said. “It had to be somebody from the community that knows she’s by herself, somebody that was watching her. They had the same routine everyday.”
Houston County District Attorney Doug Valeska encouraged anyone with information about the murder to come forward to the police. He said an $11,000 reward has been offered for any information leading to an arrest in the slaying. He also asked anyone with information about the missing murder weapon to come forward.
Valeska said he believed the woman was executed. He said the woman’s killer or killers face the death penalty because she was killed during the commission of a robbery.
“It’s pretty bad when a 69-year-old grandmother is robbed in her own business,” Valeska said. “We need help from the community. Somebody had to see something.”
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement