ATLANTA — A metro Atlanta family is fighting to get justice for their son, but the battle is getting even harder, and now they're blaming the Fulton County District Attorney's Office.
This all stems from a deadly mass shooting in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood in the early morning hours of July 5, 2020. Joshua Ingram was one of the two people shot and killed in the gunfire that left 13 others wounded on that day nearly four years ago.
The Ingrams said they were summoned to court this week for a trial involving one of the suspects in their son’s murder, but when they got there, they found out the case had nothing to do with Joshua.
“My husband and I was strung along for these three years for something that had nothing to do with, absolutely nothing to do with Joshua. Nothing,” said Sherlyn Ingram, Joshua’s mother.
Sherlyn and Rodney Ingram’s son, Joshua, was among two people killed when shots rang out during a Fourth of July celebration in 2020. Thirteen others were wounded that day near the intersection of Auburn Avenue and Jessie Hill Jr. Drive.
"That was the worst... the worst moment in my life,” Sherlyn said, fighting back tears.
Since the incident, the Ingrams explained they were led to believe the case filed against Saeed Reed was about their son’s murder, but during a trial this week, the family learned that was not the case.
“They called us to come down there. She (Sherlyn) got to take off work to go to court. Every time they mentioned to us we going down to have to go to court, we are thinking that we are going to hear a case that has something to do with our son, not nobody else’s,” Rodney said.
“And none of this crap had nothing to do with Joshua, but they just wanted us in court," Sherlyn shouted. "This case was about one young man who actually shot two other young men."
The Ingrams said attending the most recent court case this week was the final straw that resulted in her losing her job, and now she only wishes things would have been handled differently.
“I believe that the D.A.’s office should have been forthright, honest, truthful to us -- not have us coming to court for bond hearings, for calendar hearings and all sorts of hearings for someone else that had nothing to do with Joshua’s death. I don’t trust the judicial system any longer because I’ve been lied to,” Sherlyn said.
11Alive reached out to the District Attorney’s office – they sent the following statement:
"Our office is in regular contact with the Ingram family, and our understanding was that they wanted to be informed of the status of the case charging Mr. Reed, in addition to the status of the case regarding the man indicted for murdering Joshua Ingram. Our victim witness advocates work to ensure that victims and families have all information regarding proceedings of interest to them. We apologize if that created confusion. The case against the defendant indicted for the murder of Joshua Ingram is still pending."
For more information, you can read 11Alive's breakdown of the case below: