The ex-wife of a well-known Atlanta surgeon and civic leader repeatedly shot her son and daughter in her family’s upscale Vinings townhome before killing herself with a single bullet to the chest.
An autopsy released Wednesday by the Cobb County Medical Examiner’s Office paints a grisly picture of the double murder-suicide that claimed the lives of three members of a prominent metro Atlanta family three months ago.
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Marsha Edwards, 58, shot 20-year-old Erin Edwards and 24-year-old Christopher Edwards II in late August before turning the gun on herself, police said.
All three bodies were discovered during a wellness check at the home inside the gated Vinings Park East townhouse community. The neighborhood is located about a mile from Cumberland Mall.
Erin Edwards was shot twice in the left arm and once in the chest, her autopsy revealed. Her body was discovered in the same room as her mother.
Christopher Edwards was shot six times, according to the autopsy result, once in the back of the head, once in the abdomen, twice in the back, once in his left arm and once in his shoulder. His body was found in his bed on a different level of the home than his sister and mother, authorities said.
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The autopsy findings do not indicate which of her children Marsha Edwards shot first.
Her ex-husband, Christopher Edwards, is an orthopedic surgeon who chairs the Atlanta Housing Authority board. He also serves on the board of trustees of the Morehouse School of Medicine and formerly served on the board of Grady Memorial Hospital, AJC.com previously reported.
His son had been the digital content manager for the Atlanta film and entertainment office since March 2018, according to the city. Both he and his sister were Woodwood Academy graduates. Christopher went on to graduate from Elon University with a degree in media and arts entertainment.
Erin Edwards interned last summer in the mayor’s communications office. A student at Boston University, she was coming off a summer internship with an NBC station in New York.
Marsha Edwards formed MME Enterprises LLC, a medical equipment provider, in July 2015, according to the company’s website.
Active in the community, she was also a member of several high-profile black organizations and civic groups, including the Atlanta Chapter of Jack and Jill of America and the Camellia Rose Chapter of The Links.
Earlier this year, Women Works Media Group named her one of Atlanta’s Most Powerful and Influential Women of 2019.
Both Marsha Edwards and her children were members of the National Association of Black Journalists, an organization that advocates for and supports black reporters.
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At an Atlanta Housing Authority meeting in September, the elder Christopher Edwards thanked the public for the outpouring of support he received after the deaths of his family members.
“The cards and prayers came from all over Georgia, not just Atlanta,” Edwards ahead of the housing authority’s meeting. “Then they came in from the nation, and most recently, they have now been coming in from the world. You reached me, and I thank you so very much.”
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