All I can say about this case is that is has moved me as much, if not more, than any loss I've ever known.
I own a rental around the corner from Barrister's Hall, if you were to walk from BH across GA ave straight across onto Mercer Law grounds, you would be just about on top of my rental, direct opposite, on Bond St.
As a property manager for many years, in a small capacity, I say you can only do so much to make your complex safe, it is up to the individuals to protect their own life and property, the rental is as their own and if they aren't being managed properly, I urge you to move. Property Managers should always change the locks or have them re keyed when a new tenant moves in. They should have working locks on all windows and doors (and attics if it runs the length of a building or another unit might gain access to them through the attic). Also working smoke detectors, radon and fire extinguishers.
It is up to the individual as to the location of their living arrangements according to their budget. Not all areas are the same. AND AS has been proven, even the good areas are not immune to psychopaths!
I was afraid for a while to travel this area after Lauren's murder. My apartments were 100% occupied so didnt' worry about someone gaining access to an empty unit, but i did have basement that was not used, tho locked tight, and the back yard, tho kept, is not a haven for gatherings, and I admit, I SEARCHED the basement and the backyard area for Lauren, which also has a row of trees and shrubs where other homes back yards back up to this row of growth.
I am still haunted by this case almost on a daily basis. I will neve get over this senseless crime. I think it's been mentioned; a death, a car accident, a shooting, is bad enough, when death follows...but to dismember your victim(my thoughts) screams psychopath with no conscience and I don't give a CARE what the books say or the court. To be able to do that to someone, in my mind, says clearly there is SOME INSANITY there whether it can be so called "proven" or not, the proof to me is already there. How can someone like that be "CURED" in a prison system?. The mind is a terrible thing to waste so the college ad used to say on tv many years ago, but it's also a terrible thing. It makes us happy, sad, insecure, afraid, sadistic, neurotic, WHATEVER, if we let it.
I do not fully trust my neighbors and I speak from a minor experience; I was once stalked by a neighbor, many weeks later finding out he had been raping girls in the area near south Macon. Some may remember the case, they owned a WR and Macon pet store. My sister used to babysit their children. Both parents very nice, he very very quiet and the wife very outgoing, so in their business, they played the roles that best fit them, he behind the scenes, she in the forefront. My AUnt had an experience where the husband had come over during the day when she was there alone house sitting, even tho she knew him/them, she did not answer the door feeling that it was odd he was there at all this time of day, for some reason. Most would have answered the door thinking his phone had died, ( no cell phones then haha, geez I'm old) needed to borrow something or even had an emergency situation. But she did not answer the door.This was our neighbors whom we trusted.
We cannot know everything but I don't think we can be too trusting. Then again, as the saying goes, when it's your time, it's your time.
I think of Lauren and her family almost on a daily basis and I can say with certainty, I do NOT know how her parents have continued functioning. Having three children of my own, I can ONLY imagine the shock and heartache they must know, and cannot understand the senselessness of it all even though we have heard all the reasoning behind it
May God be with LG family and I pray the Authorities have the killer in custody