Adult children police say were killed by mother remembered as high achievers

ATLANTA — Whenever Boston University junior Kesha Perkins needed emotional support, she reflexively turned to Erin Edwards, her close friend and fellow Atlantan, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. 

Wednesday night, Perkins received word that 20-year-old Erin had died. Investigators believe Dr. Marsha Edwards, the former wife of surgeon and civic leader Christopher Edwards, shot and killed her daughter, Erin, and son, 24-year-old Christopher Jr., before turning the gun on herself. Their bodies were found by police inside their upscale Vinings townhouse after Cobb County police were asked to perform a wellness check.

"Now I've lost my support system," Perkins said. The North Cobb High School graduate who, along with Erin Edwards, was one of 10 local students to receive a Posse Foundation full scholarship to attend Boston University, recalled a particularly rough night this past spring, soon after her grandmother's death.

"She came right down to my room and stayed two hours," Perkins said. "Erin always made time for her friends."

And she did so while maintaining a manic schedule. An alumnus, like her brother, of Woodward Academy, Erin majored in journalism, serving as editor-in-chief of Charcoal magazine, a literary publication highlighting women of color. She also reported for the campus newspaper, was "co-DJ" on a feminist talk show, and penned scripts and stage-managed a current affairs show on BU's television station.

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A student at Boston University, Erin Edwards was coming off a summer internship with an NBC station in New York.

Perkins said Erin could perform all the songs from "Hamilton" — "she loved musicals" — and was excited about studying in London this spring.

There, she would be able to further indulge her fondness for "high tea," a custom that began at Dr. Bombay's Underwater Tea Party in Candler Park and continued in Boston.

Erin Edwards is shown in this undated photo taken at Dr. Bombay's Underwater Tea Party in Atlanta's Candler Park neighborhood. Photo courtesy Kesha Perkins

Photo: courtesy of Kesha Perkins

She had recently completed an internship at WNBC-TV in New York City, where she wrote articles for the station's digital team. Friends say Erin was deeply committed to journalism, telling them nothing was more important than their story.

Her passion for communications was shared by her older brother, Christopher, digital content manager for the Atlanta film and entertainment office.

"He was the nicest person I've ever met at Elon," said Emmanuel Morgan, who graduated from Elon University in May, a year after his friend Christopher. "He was always upbeat. He was always willing to be there for people. If he didn't know you, he would introduce himself."

Morgan is interning this summer at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He and his friend went to a Braves game on Sunday. Afterward, they hung out for a while at the Edwards family's townhouse. He was shaken when, just three days later, the home appeared in news reports as the scene of a heinous crime.

Cox Media Group