The Edwards Family Murder - Suicide
Vinings Park East is a community of townhomes in Vinings Atlanta off steel house lane about 12 miles outside of the city. The homes were built in 2015 by Tayon Homes, most of them are these large beautiful brick estates, three story townhomes with about two to three bedrooms, 2 car garages that are hosts to Mercedes, and BMW's. Maybe your occasional 2022 Mazda. Large open space with windows splattered across the face of the house, letting in early morning light. Expensive granite countertops, and stainless steel appliances. Hardwood floors are found on every level, but mainly the entire first floor. The Vinings neighborhood is close to Teasley elementary school, Campbell middle and high school. Schools that do relatively well, with counseling, and a great athletics team Go Spartans! A diverse mix of staff and it's not surprising with neighborhoods like Vinings park connected to this school. Why wouldn't they have a golf team? A championship winning ROTC female Raider team, and a student laptop program?
Because it's not just about the $500,000 homes it's the community, it’s the people that will stop at nothing to uphold that community presence and reputation. Which is probably why people don't talk much about the Edwards family anymore. Sure, there are things we know about the gated community, the HOAC, the ability to walk to a shopping center. The robust Cobb energy Performing Arts Center and you can't forget that breathtaking Truist park where the Atlanta Braves baseball team occasionally plays. These breathtaking homes with burgundy brick, quaint stairs, and a backyard fit for your poodle or Chocolate Lab. Rooms that echoe when you walk in simply because the ceilings are so high, but eventually is filled with L shaped couches, and high end furniture from Williamson Sonoma or the luxury home decor accent section in Neiman Marcus. Yes Vinings is the perfect place to live, a place that you can raise your kids, where well off newlyweds can soak their feet, where PTA moms can have their meetings, and graduate sorority groups can meet for book club. This was the Edwards home, and yet as you search and hear their story Vinings is only mentioned once, in a Daily Mail article.
The once exquisite brick now lined with yellow tape, black trucks and SUV's sprawled across the driveway and front lawn. The sound of dispatch coming from walkie talkies and men in suits and police in uniforms sprawled out side standing just under the staircase that leads up to that front door. A place that was once home for a mother and her two adult children, now the setting of a 2019 nightmare.
This is the story of the murder- suicide of Marsha Edwards, Chris junior Edwards, and Erin Edwards.
When I began this story I wasn't sure if I was going to share the fate of these three people. I thought, maybe I would prolong it out, but as I describe these people in this story you are going to fall in love with them, you are going to wish and hope and root for Erin and Christopher Jr., you may even see some sort of mirrored image of yourself in Marsha. And I thought well you know why you're here, this is a true crime podcast, rarely will my stories end with some sort of positive solution. I can let you know now as you continue this journey with me that I won't always have stories where people get away, but before I get in to what happened on the 3000 block of nobility way around 6:00 PM on August 21st 2019 I need to introduce you to Marsha, Christopher, and Erin. And before I do that I need to familiarize you with the black affluent elite.
When I was about 14 years old, I was initiated into a group. Jack and Jill organization of America. Well I've been in the group since I was about five or six, as far along as I could remember, but this was my initiation into the teen group. Me and a group of peers wore all white to an event where a candle was lit in each of our hands, we said an oath entering us into the group, and alongside of us were other women who were also joining the group as well, the mothers. Four years later I'd find myself in all white again as I stood in front of an audience of over 200 people, parents and children, and announced where I was going to school, as well as what my major was. A decade later I can remember both days so clearly in my head. In hindsight something about this is incredibly cultish. But the initial intention of Jack and Jill of America is simple. It was created by a group of black women to connect. They may have found themselves as being the only black person at their job, or their husband’s job, maybe they were struggling. Regardless, they wanted their children to grow up around like minded peers and experience growing up black in America together. When I was little we had monthly events that were fun. I can remember my first crush on a boy in Jack and Jill, and once I got to high school and experienced conference, and Copa, events that were only for people in the Jack and Jill club, I’d even gotten a boyfriend out of that. I remember telling people by my locker that I was dating some guy named Patrick or Jordan or whatever.
In times of a tragedy like a grandparent dying, moms would come together for food trains or fundraisers. However, I would be amiss to not acknowledge that most of the families that I was surrounded by had money. And it made sense you had to pay your dues, conference, which was an entire weekend dedicated to young black high school kids networking and meeting all across the country, it was expensive as hell. Then there's the dances and the parties. It's like a whole thing. If you are a mom with multiple kids then prices began to add up. And most moms who were in Jack and Jill ended up being in other groups, like Links, or were very prominent in AKA, or Delta sorority's. Most families had kids that went to schools in expensive neighborhoods, or even if the kids were in public school, they drove a car that shouldn’t be.
these families go on vacations and if it isn’t a group trip to Bahamas, it’s spending their summers out at Martha's Vineyard, a small island off the Massachusetts coast that literally has one traffic light, and sandy beaches overlooking a body of water.
These groups connect each other, everyone has heard of or knows someone. As I got older and went to college there were other kids I knew that experienced Jack and Jill, and the ones that didn't had the same take. We were a bunch of out of touch bougie black kids.
However, I noticed one thing that's stayed the same: the moms.
A Jack and Jill mom had to be, kept together, she usually was a part of a bunch of other organizations. She sat on a board or two. It was kind of frowned upon if she didn't at least try to run for a position within the Chapter. She's expected to pay her dues, she is expected to have a decent marriage, or if she's divorced should still be living to maintain the lifestyle that she had prior. These moms should have nice clothes, a degree, or if not, a salary that would match. Some of these women hailed from HBCUS, and their kids are expected to go to school with a name.
It must have been a lot of pressure to keep this image of yourself up to date and current. To keep the hair and the makeup, and the clothes, and the house, and the marriage … and if you lost the marriage being able to still somehow appear strong. So that when your kid stands up at that microphone after finishing their senior year of high school, and they look out into that crowd silhouettes they can confidently say what university they will be attending next year and start the cycle all over again.
I imagine people believe that Marsha Edwards had it all. She had light caramel skin and flowy lighter brown almost blonde hair. She'd lost more weight recently, but usually maintained a pretty slender build. Above all else Marsha had a nice smile. And honestly she had a lot to be grateful for on the surface. She was born and raised in Baton Rouge LA a place with only one airport. And went on to attend Southern University where she studied biology, she went to the Southern University laboratory school, she later attended Louisiana State University Medical Center in Shreveport LA and obtained her medical degree in 1996. Around that time that she met Christopher Edwards. A tall handsome man with dreams of becoming a surgeon. But Marsha had dreams to, she participated in a family medicine program at Emory University in Atlanta, and eventually she created the MME enterprises LLC. Marsha explored her passion for medical consulting and she began working with clinical consultants for a company called ICN pharmaceuticals. She evaluated the effect of the drug rehabilitation on immunocompromised children. This helped her expand her career through the evaluation and implementation of personal injuries and worker compensation programs by working with groups like Atlanta neurological and spine institute LLC. She continued to work as a medical sales consultant and that's when she formed her own company. MME enterprises provides medical equipment and services to hospitals, physicians, and other medical providers. Marsha was doing well for herself.
on all accounts Marsha was happy. In 1990 she had her son Chris Edwards Jr. and in 1999 she had her daughter Erin Victoria. Marsha loved to cook and enjoyed spending time with her friends. She was known to make like the best homemade Louisiana gumbo. And when she wasn't cooking for her husband and kids she cooked for her friends. It almost seems like I'm describing the perfect woman in fact Woman’s Work Media Group named Marsha one of Atlanta’s most powerful and influential women of 2019. Marsha kind of seemed to do it all, she was involved with the Atlanta chapter of Jack and Jill of America, and the Camilla Rose chapter of the Links. Despite her busy schedule it seemed like Marsha and Christopher Sr. had a pretty decent marriage.
Christopher himself had garnered a pretty impeccable reputation. He was a graduate of Morehouse College, and Morehouse School of Medicine. An incredibly popular HBCU. He completed a surgical institute and orthopedic residency at Tulane University in New Orleans. And since 88 he'd been in orthopedic surgeon with the Atlanta neurological and spine institute. That kind of was ingrained in him, he served as an assistant clinical professor of surgery at the Morehouse School of Medicine, he sat on their board of trustees and was the Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Grady Memorial Hospital. He of course is also a member of the American Academy of orthopedic surgeons and the National Medical Association as well as quite a few other associations. Outside of being a private practice physician Dr. Edwards is considered a leader in the field of minimally invasive spine surgical techniques and has been asked on several occasions to lecture, and teach, and demonstrate new procedures. Throughout his career he traveled across the world including Europe and South Africa. The techniques he created and used helped treat high performance athletes.
So yeah, Marsha and Christopher Edwards Sr. were the perfect couple. They had a hold on the medical industry whether it was selling equipment, or performing surgery. And with that came the entrance into the black affluent or elite community. Which is why this statuette portrayal of the couple shifted gears in 2014 when they filed for divorce.
For all the social media presence Marsha began to garner it is somewhat surprising that her marriage was able to stay out of the spotlight, aside from being something that people would covet. There isn't much about their separation to report, rumors swirled around that the divorce was ugly. I'd imagine that had to deal with businesses being entangled, and the lifestyle shift. They both were successful, they probably were ridiculously as successful together.
at the time of the divorce Marsha was 53 years old. Surprisingly enough MME enterprises hadn't opened until the year after. She might have been in the planning stages while also dealing with a divorce, there was a lot of back and forth about the house, different assets. And Marsha and Dr. Edwards children Christopher Jr. and Erin were still teenagers. Erin couldn't have been older than 14, and her brother Christopher Jr. must have been at most 18 or 19.
I want to note Marsha and Christopher Edward Senior were both MD's. But for the sake of the name's I'm going to refer to Christopher Edward Senior as Dr Edwards.
During this time the Facebook account that belonged to Marsha began to change. Photos of Erin and Christopher junior stayed the same but slowly but surely Dr. Edwards made his way out of the spotlight. Even during this processing time Marsha still posted and kept up appearances, she was by all expense purposes still part of the Links program, she was still a part of the Jack and Jill of America incorporation, she was transitioning from one job to her new business that she owned, and her photos and conversations displayed that.
And though Marsha had a lot to be proud of, her biggest accomplishments were always her children.
Christopher junior is someone you would consider a creative person. He attended Elon University and graduated in 2018. He was known for being witty and funny, Like a lot of men in there mid 20s his hair that was always soft was thinning just a bit. He had thick rimmed glasses, and with every year he began to look more and more like his father. He was born on June 30th 1995, which makes him a year younger than me, he loved journalism and sports which is pretty similar to his sister Erin. He wanted to combine the two, he was previously working at ESPN SEC Network where he was a studio production intern. He had this radio show called One of One sports and it's served as the on air anchor. During his time at Elon university he was a part of the Woodward Academy marching band and you could see him courtside at an Atlanta Hawks game. He was even in attendance to that Super Bowl in Atlanta, you know they really lit one? Most people that knew Christopher considered him a fiercely loyal person he loved his sister and he pretty much was kind of described as this sports nerd who was trying to make a difference. And that's a loving quote I read by the way, not anything in my opinion. Christopher’s instagram account bio says ‘shoot, write, edit, repeat.’ He was doing digital social media management for ATL Filaments, and even snagged a job in the mayors office. He was living back at home post grad. Preparing for what’s next. His own place, furthering his career that kind of thing. He's kind of one of those people that everyone got along with and his sister Erin was no different.
I feel like everyone could kind of tell Erin was going places. She had long black curly hair, big eyes, and an infectious smile – like her mother’s. She was born on June 21st 1999 in Atlanta GA. Her father was occasionally described as proud and boastful with Erin begine one of his greatest achievements. Proof that if anything else, he was a good dad.
Erin attended Boston University as a posse scholar after spending her summer of 2018 as an intern for NBC in New York. She was editor in chief of the university's publication targeting people of color. The magazine is called Charcoal magazine if you ever want to check it out, she just like her brother was a radio host on a feminist talk show and reported for the Daily Free Press. Erin also was a writer, she wrote many articles and produced stories for NBC online she had an interest in the LGBTQ community of Greenwich Village and was a huge human rights and equal rights activist. Erin was one of those charming people, her friends described her as warm and gracious. She was mature and always optimistic. She was someone that you could go to for support and clarity. To be a go to person at such a young age is, well it's exhausting. She I was a leader, and was just likeable. To be someone with so much going for them, with a future that was in no doubt going to be something incredibly impressive.
Even on top of her accomplishments, Erin was just sweet. She could perform all the songs of Hamilton, she loved musicals. She had a couple best friends that were reoccurring features on her social media, girls that look similar to her, she seemed to have close friends, and really just wanted to experience life. She was into fashion And she loved to travel, and often posted on her social media about trips she'd taken including Canada, Miami, New York, and her final trip Italy.
See Marsha and Erin took a trip to Italy, and they were gone for a few days and seemed to have come home on August 19th. That was the last photo that Erin would post captioned “ciao ciao italia” Her mother posted something similar, a final dinner in Italy. The architecture of the tall building set behind the two of them as they smiled with desserts spread out on a plate in front of them.
When they returned home on Aug 20th, Aaron and Dr. Edwards went out to dinner. They talked about the trip, and plans for preparation of school that fall. Christopher Jr. had gone to the Caribbean with Dr Edward a couple weeks prior, and Miami with his mother just before her Italy trip. It was kind of like they each got this specific set amount of time to spend with their parents.
On all accounts things seemed fine. Dr. Edwards didn’t notice anything different from Erin's behavior. And Marsha, now 58 had shared dozens of photos on Facebook of earlier August, a trip she had taken with Christopher Jr. to Miami for the National Association of Black Journalists. She returned and hopped back on a plane to Italy with Erin. The pair traveled to Venice and Florence touring the cities, shopping and eating. The return back to the states on the 19th seemed to go without any issues.
So Tuesday August 20th, after Erin came home from her dinner with her dad freshly tanned from the Italy sun, and Christopher, had spent the day working things seemed on all accounts normal.
Which is why Wednesday morning didn’t seem so alarming. Marsha took to her social media pages again and uploaded a group of photos to Instagram captioned “I’ve had the best summer, first with Chris in Miami, and Erin in Italy. I could not ask for better children” with a heart, red wine, and sunglasses emoji.
Needless to say Marsha was proud. atleast it looked that way.
And then there was silence.
I'd like to think Marsha was puttering around her large town home. Her bare feet pressing against the hardwood floors, eyeing the large kitchen, drifting her fingers across the couch in the living room. With her phone in her other hand checking every so often for new notifications, likes and comments people expressing their admiration for her and how beautiful her family was. But this large house was dark, there was something looming over Marsha that found itself expanding towards every corner of the home. And maybe that's why she walked upstairs to her bedroom, and sat for a few minutes to think about what she would do next.
Dr. Edwards had not heard from either of his children. Christopher had work, and Erin was spending the day doing something with friends, or a summer project, not sure which. It was the type of day that should have been like any other day. No one was expecting anyone per say, but the absence of any of those three people would at least cause notice. Especially by Dr. Edward who was expecting to hear from someone whether it be his son or daughter at some point.
Dr Edwards had tried calling Erin, Christopher, and even reached out to Marsha but with no avail eventually began to get worried. He called the Cobb County Police Department to do a welfare check. It wasn't like them not to answer, especially on a regular busy weekday. Police arrived at the 3206 block of nobility way at 6:00 PM. they knocked on the door, and got no answer, however there was evidence that someone was home, there were cars at least in the driveway of the garage. With no response police made their way in and what they found shook even the strongest officer to his core.
It isn't clear the exact timeline, in fact only Marsha, Christopher junior, and Erin know what happened that Wednesday.
But there are a few realities that are clear, the medical examiner painted a horrific scene of the house. IChristopher junior was found laying in bed he'd been shot over five times, once in the back of the head, once in the abdomen, twice in the back, and once in the left arm, and finally ones in the shoulder. He was found on a different level than his mother and sister, see Erin and her mother were found in the same room. Erin was shot twice, with two bullet holes in the left arm and once in the chest.
Then there was Marsha, who laid lifeless in the same room adjacent from her daughter, she'd been shot once in the chest.
This family as I've mentioned before is affluent, that is a theme here, and a part of me wonders if that had anything to do with just how discreet this murder and suicide details were. See it's not clear when Marsha got the gun, it isn't clear if it was a handgun which can hold on average 10 bullets. It isn't clear if she had the gun for protection, or if she had purchased it sometime during this summer.
What also wasn't clear is the exact time of death, see there are a couple scenarios that go with this event. These are all speculation based on the evidence that has been provided.
The first is that Marsha loaded her gun and walked down the hall where Christopher junior laid she stood over him and shot him in his abdomen and once in his left arm and another in his shoulder, he could have turned over in order to cover himself in shock, and was shot twice in the back and once in the head. She then made her way to the opposite room on a different level, and paced through the townhome -- I'm assuming to the upstairs level, where she shot her daughter who couple have been blocking which is why she was shot twice in the left arm and then eventually stood over her and shot her in the chest.
Or Marsha could have shot Aaron first twice in the arm, once in the chest and as she fell down and bled out she could have gone down the hallway to an unsuspecting sleeping Christopher who may not have heard the gunshots. Blasting him over five times and then making her way back to the room where her daughter laid where she would ultimately turn the gun to her chest.
There was a theory that maybe Marsha didn't do this, it's a stretch, a complete stretch but on her social media page there were a couple of comments. One that noted that they couldn't imagine Marsha doing this to her children. A commentor even said “I'm not a conspiracy theorist.” Marsha loved her children, So what if she didn't do it? I mean it's much easier to shoot yourself in the head, but she chose the chest. Was that because it's less messy and her face would be preserved, or did someone else come in and kill the family?
There is no evidence that Marsha had any enemies nor did Erinor Christopher, or ultimately doctor Edwards. There was no sign of a break in. And where Marsha and Erin were found as well as Christopher junior that would suggest that a person would have come in, or have been let in, and the mother and daughter put in one room and the son and the other. Again the limited details on this case leads me to believe that there was proper testing being done and that gun and the fingerprints to match were part of the reason why police were able to determine this a murder suicide.
By all appearances Marsha was the loving mother so of course the next question is why? Filicide is the definition of when a parent kills their child. It's extremely rare and usually happens to kids that are younger. These slight whispers of a difficult divorce made their way through various circles, but the kids were older at this point, if this was too punish Dr. Edwards it didn't make sense, not really. He still had a relationship with the children and though they were adults Erin and Christopher junior lived predominantly with their mother. There wasn't a strain in relationship between Erin and Christopher junior either. There were various posts on Erin’s Facebook congratulating her mother for her own accomplishments, and making birthday and Mother's Day post saying I love you mom. The next question is how long was this planned, I mean honestly she goes on two trips with each child separately then post a picture with a caption that's now deemed cryptic with the results that followed. There was minimal alcohol found in marsha's blood stream, so maybe she had a glass of wine at most. there wasn't any indication that anything was wrong. Which is probably the most horrifying thing of all.
When Dr. Edwards found out he was understandably devastated, and eventually came out with a statement thanking family and friends for their outpouring love.
“Its not about the fact that we’re going to die. It’s about what you do as a result of that reality in the time that you were given” Erin herself said this about death, a quote she probably would never have intended to have so much impact.
A funeral was held in a large church. It was August 28th about a week after the tragic event. Hundreds gathered at Cascade United Methodist Church. There beneath the podium as the reverend spoke into a mic and his words echoed throughout the walls three photos stood at the forefront: Christopher with a bouquet of orange and yellow flowers beneath the portrait on one side, Erin on the other she's smiling, her hair straightened it looks like a graduation professional photo with matching flowers to her brother, and in the middle a headshot of Marsha with three white bouquets of flowers underneath her.
I couldn't find a testament, or quote, or anything from the Links, or Jack and Jill of America. In fact in 2019 I didn't even really hear many people talk about it. There are so many articles on this case and many of them short and brief but they speak in light of the impact Erin had on her friends and family, and just how amazing Christopher was. They also talk about Marsha -- she was fiercely smart and confident. People were confused, she no signs of mental illness and she was one of the most powerful black women in Atlanta. There's no disputing that. Her company has since shut down and the website is now disabled you are immediately taken to wix.com platform when trying to search it. Doctor Edwards continues to practice medicine, and Erin's social media is still up her tagged photos of friends that still pay tribute and miss her, Christopher's is private, however I can only assume that he gets the same amount of love. When I first found out about this case about a year ago I could find Marsha, her Instagram at the time was still readily available, that has since changed. Those selfies and Canva processed pictures Flyers, all a distant memory. Those groups that were once hosted for brunches, and lunches, and board meetings have continued on and it doesn't seem like they've said much. I'm sure there are still whispers within circles and hushed comments. Most people want to know why, and unfortunately we will never know. it is reasoning only Marsha has taken to her grave.
I've thought about what those last moments must have been like and to offer any peace I'd like to hope that Christopher junior didn't feel much that maybe those shots were so fast that he just continued to sleep, I'd like to hope that Erin defended herself as best she could but as quickly as it started is as quickly as it was over, and maybe even Marsha she pressed the barrel against her chest was gone in a blink of an eye.
Sources:
https://nypost.com/2019/08/23/recent-nbc-intern-erin-edwards-killed-by-mom-in-murder-suicide/
https://nypost.com/2019/08/23/mom-gushed-about-two-kids-on-instagram-before-killing-them-herself/
Autopsy:
https://blackdoctor.org/autopsy-reveals-new-details-about-atlanta-mother-killing-her-two-children/
Marsha Edwards Business:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marsha-m-edwards-m-d-b7b403146
