Between 1a.m. and 1:30a.m. on the morning of August 23, 2005 Amy Philpot received a call from her husband in Atlanta. A stewardess for Air Tran Airlines, she was in Boston on a stay-over scheduled to return home later that day.

Her husband’s ominous voice destroyed her solitude and haunts her everyday since. “You need to come home. Harold has been shot and he’s dead!” Horrified, she sank to the floor screaming in unspeakable anguish.

Several hours later, she met her husband and Air Tran associates at the Atlanta Airport and the horror of the morning became all too real.

Amy’s son, Harold Dean Philpot, 29, was critically wounded at 8:30p.m. on the evening of August 22, 2005. He was found lying in the grass at 2790 Macon Drive 3 doors down from where he lived and rushed to Grady Hospital where he subsequently died from the gunshot trauma.

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Bill Campbell has a stock pot full of experience. His legacy started in 1960 when he was 7 years old. A first grade student at Murphey elementary school in Raleigh, North Carolina, young Bill Campbell integrated the school, solo, opening the doors for other black Americans. He graduated from Vanderbilt University as a triple major, completing his studies in political science, history, and sociology in only 3 years. In 1977 he graduated from Duke University Law School, moved to Atlanta and started practicing law. In 1993 he was elected Mayor of Atlanta, winning 73% of the vote, defeating Michael Lomax in a runoff election. To date, he has served Atlanta for 20 years as a prosecutor, a member of the Atlanta City Council as the floor leader under Maynard Jackson, and Mayor of the city. He tenure as mayor was 1994-2002.

In 2000, Bill Campbell’s pot started to boil over when federal authorities began investigating city contracts and political fundraising. By the end of 2003, 12 friends, associates, and employees in Bill Campbell’s administration were investigated and prosecuted by the Federal government. Eleven of those associations were found guilty. One has been granted immunity. The question before the federal court is whether the corruption extended to Campbell.

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