Harold Dean Philpot

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.

According to Investigator Wilson of the Atlanta Police Department, Homicide Division, "A witness that called the police stated he heard a gun shot and saw Harold running towards him. The victim told him he had been shot and then collapsed in the grass."

Outside of that account and a call from another witness indicating he heard a shot but did not see anybody or a vehicle leaving the scene, the police investigation has yielded very few clues to solve this murder.

There is nothing typical about the case or the victim. Harold Philpot was not out on the town, hanging-out, intoxicated, or in the wrong place at the wrong time. Following a day at the office, he was returning home from his routine "15 minutes a day" fitness workout at Gold's Gym.

According to his mother, "Although he earned enough to afford a nice car and could live wherever he wanted, he preferred to live a simple life living here (at the family home) and riding MARTA."

A co-worker had accompanied him to the gym that evening and offered to drop him off at home. Harold made a choice that became a factor in his death.

Adhering to his ordered lifestyle, he refused the offer and chose to ride the bus instead. Evidence suggests he was shot after leaving the bus and taking the short walk home.

Several months prior to his death, Philpot had been robbed at gunpoint after getting-off the bus on Macon Drive. In spite of the incident, he chose not to relocate and continued using public transportation.

He later remarked that when the assailant told him to count to 100 before making a move, he said he counted to 500 just to be sure the perpetrator was gone before he left the scene.

"Although we looked at some condos in some upscale neighborhoods, after the robbery, rather than move, he preferred to be proactive and work to change his community," his mother said.

Harold Philpot was a 1995 graduate of North Atlanta High School and matriculated at Howard University before settling into his career with the National Aids Education and Services for Minorities (NAESM).

Patrick Kelly of NAESM says Harold Philpot worked for the organization for 10 years and was a valued member of the Zebra Unit. His job was to coordinate conferences and lectures throughout the country on the importance of prevention and protection against HIV/AIDS.

"He was always on time and never once called in sick or missed work." Kelly also stated he was impressed with his intellect and his lack of a college degree was never a factor in his effectiveness or performance.

Shaheer Morehead, a friend since their days at Crawford Long Elementary School, echoes the remarks made by his co-workers and others who knew Harold Philpot.

"Harold never liked the club scene or hanging with the fast crowd. He preferred a good movie and a sit down restaurant-he loved to eat!"

Amy Philpot added that her son was well traveled and had spent time in Israel. He was fluent in Arabic and a self-trained computer whiz.

""Harold could do things on the computer and with computers I could never even imagine. He showed me how to use my cell phone for Internet and email and had the television in the house linked to his computers."

A spiritual person, Amy says she enjoyed her time with her son to the utmost. They spent time together traveling, going to movies and of course restaurants.

She too credits Harold with loving good food and remembers fulfilling his last request before working the shift that would leave her in Boston on August 22. He had asked her to bake some of her trademark brownies and she did.

Looking into the life of Harold Philpot, the question inevitably arises- "How then, is this man a murder victim?"

The police still have not established a motive or have any suspects in the case.

Macon Drive is located in police precinct Zone 3 where murder is certainly not rare. There were 18 homicides recorded in the zone from January 1, through October 31, 2005 (the year end figures have not been published to date).

The previous year there were 27 homicides over the same period in Zone 3. By comparison, Zone 1 in North Atlanta recorded 9 homicides for the same period in 2005.

These statistics underscore the fact that Atlanta may have a new public relations campaign that extols the images of "new openings every day," but beneath the surface innocent citizens cannot walk home without the potential of being robbed or gunned down, and far too many murders remain "open cases."