In the next five months, Erika Marulanda will graduate from medical school in New York and marry her fiancé in Atlanta -- milestones her father won't be there to see.
Jaider Felipe Marulanda, 43, of Lawrenceville was one of three men killed in a shooting spree a year ago Wednesday at Penske Truck Rental near Kennesaw. Two other men were critically wounded.
"I still have trouble facing the reality of it," Erika Marulanda, 25, said this week, her voice crackling with emotion. "One day, I talked to him on the phone. The next day, my mom told me he was dead. I don't sit down and cry anymore like I used to, but it doesn't really get any better."
About 1:30 p.m. Jan. 12, 2010, police say a former employee of Penske, clad in camouflage and carrying two weapons, opened fire at the facility at 3011 Barrett Lakes Blvd. Jesse James Warren, 61, could face the death penalty if convicted in the slayings of Marulanda, who went there to get his rental truck serviced, and two Penske employees: Roberto Gonzalez, 31, of Dallas, Ga., and Vance Springer, 59, of Woodstock.
Two other employees, Joshua Holbrook, 28, and Zach Werner, 36, survived but were critically injured. Multiple attempts to contact Holbrook and Werner in recent months have been unsuccessful.
Prior to the shooting, Warren, an unemployed truck mechanic, lived with his wife on a 44-acre homestead in Temple. He lost his job at Penske in 2009 after four years of employment there, and company officials said his "separation" was "not part of a large economically driven layoff."
While the exact motive for Warren's alleged rampage remains unclear, friends, neighbors and court records indicate he had been having difficulty finding work and that he was having financial problems.
Warren's case could go to trial later this year, said Cobb County Assistant District Attorney Jesse Evans.
Evans, the lead prosecutor, said that 90 percent of numerous pretrial motions required to be heard in a death penalty case have already been disposed of.
However, Warren still has the right to a pretrial appeal, which could delay the trial for several months.
Warren's next court date is Thursday. Superior Court Judge Mary Staley will hear pretrial motions concerning the admissibility of statements that Warren made to a Cobb County detective after the shooting.
Evans said the victims' families were on board with the decision to seek the death penalty for Warren and they have attended many of the pretrial hearings. He said the families of Holbrook and Werner have been guarded with the media as they continue to work toward recovery.
"Obviously, it's a trying time for them, to say the least, but they've been very active and supportive of the case," Evans said.
Erika Marulanda hasn't focused as much on the case as the memories of her father. She said he was a kind person, friend to many, and quick to say, "I love you" to family members.
"It's hard to put everything into words," she said. "We're just trying to take it one day at a time. Some days are better than others. Some weeks are better than others. We're just trying to keep as normal life as we can."
About the Author