78-year-old beloved corner store owner killed by stray bullet on Valentine's Day
LAGRANGE, Ga. - A LaGrange neighborhood is heartbroken after a 78-year-old woman was shot and killed by a stray bullet.
Patricia Underwood was working at "Pat's Corner Store" when two men got into a fight outside. Shots were fired and a man ended up shot in the shoulder. Underwood was hit by a stray bullet and died at the scene.
"My friend is gone," said Underwood's longtime friend Keisha Sanders. "She did not deserve this, period," said Sanders.
Friends and neighbors say Pat's Corner Store is a spot they stop by every single day. "She was just that person you'd come and talk to, and she'll give you advice. She's like that neighborhood mom," said Sanders. "If she saw your kids doing wrong, she'd let you know and tell them, 'I'm gonna call your momma on you!!" said Sanders.
Those who came on Monday visited with heavy hearts. "We wont be able to sit here and joke and laugh and sit in there and have a good conversation every day," said Underwood's good friend Patricia Terry.
On friday, Underwood, known to all as "Miss Pat," was shot and killed just before she was closing up the store.
The other man shot, Ronald Turner, was hit in the shoulder and released from the hospital.
Shirley Smith was inside the store when the shooting happened.
"I had went behind the drink box and dialed 911," said Smith about the moments the bullets went flying. "But as hard as she hit the floor, I knew she was gone, because it hit her in the head," said Smith.
Devastated friends and family members started a memorial to keep her spirit alive through their pain.
"It was just cut too short for no reason," said Terry. "This should have never happened," she said.
Police arrested the suspected shooter, Andreco Parham, in the house across the street from the store just hours after the shooting.
Chick-fil-A employee finds $900 cleaning restaurant, returns it to rightful owner
Miss Pat's family and friends said this arrest doesn't bring them much peace.
"They can't replace her," said Sanders. "She cannot be replaced. Her spirit cannot be replaced. I don't care whatever they do to him it doesnt fill the void of what he just took from this neighborhood, what he took from these people here," she said.
Parham is facing mutliple charges for aggravated assault, felony murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.