A popular owner of a well-known bookshop in the Atlanta area was discovered dead in a creek, and one of her staff members, a former boyfriend, has been charged with her kidnapping and murder.
The Henry County Sheriff’s Office informed local media 11Alive on March 6 that at about 1:15 p.m., a fisherman in Putnam County found the corpse of Erica Atkins, a 42-year-old mother of two who owned Birdsong Books in Henry County.
Atkins was found around an hour’s drive from the bookshop. She had been reported missing on Sunday. Atkins was presumably killed in Henry County, and her corpse was later discarded in the neighboring Putnam County, according to the police.
Romero Johnson, 38, her employee, was determined to be a person of interest. He was detained and initially accused of kidnapping, and later of killing Atkins, after her body was found.
An affidavit from police says that Johnson covered Atkins’ body with a large sheet and dragged her from her garage. He is seen on surveillance footage moving her body into his vehicle.
Blood was found in the back of Johnson’s car. Police state that the car had been recently cleaned. An earring that allegedly belonged to Atkins was found in the driveway where the body had been dragged.
The father of her youngest child revealed to Fox 5 Atlanta that Atkins and Johnson had dated in the past before she ended the relationship. Her neighborhood has been in shock since Atkins’ passing. A temporary floral monument was built in front of the bookshop.
Atkins, according to her friend, was recently honored as the Small Business of the Year by the regional Chamber of Commerce and was a well-liked “pillar” of the neighborhood.
