AUGUSTA, Ga. – Deputies say a husband killed his wife and stepdaughter Sunday night. Then deputies found him dead and say he turned the gun on himself.
Now we’re learning more about the two victims, mother Tammy Briggs and her daughter April Williams, and the man accused of killing them, James Lamont Briggs.
“It’s a tragedy. … It is. She’s going to be missed, I mean, she’s going to be missed,” said Shonta Bradley, who knew Tammy Briggs for more than 40 years. They were elementary school pals turned long-time friends.
She says Tammy never had the need to be front and center but never failed to cheer you on from the sidelines.
“I started a nonprofit recently called Butterflies Are Blue, and I had been talking to her about it,” Bradley said. “And when I started it, she was the first to support, she was like, ‘what can I do to help you?’”
But what happened at Copse Drive was a complete shock, especially to friends who say she tended to be private about her personal life.
“We talked very often, she never alluded to anything going on. She has this perfect little family” Bradley said.
She says Tammy used to work for University Healthcare System, but had recently been doing consulting work in IT.
Friends say her daughter April was a responsible young adult, in college, with a passion for fashion design, but with a little more spunk than her mom.
“Yeah, she was sassy (laughs). Typical teen, you know, young lady,” Bradley said.