UNION CITY, Ga. — A Union City family is mourning the loss of a beloved mother of five.
This heartbreak, which came before the holidays, is only made worse because the family of 43-year-old Marie Clemmons believes her life was taken from her and they want answers.
“It’s been a long journey for us just to bury her,” her uncle Clarence Clemmons said.
It was a burial path Marie's family didn't think they would have to travel so soon. Clemmons was found dead inside a car at a Union City gas station.
The family shared a cell phone video taken by relatives at the scene. They also shared snapshots that capture her infectious smile before her untimely death.
“She was a fun-loving individual, she cared so much for her family, her daughters, her kids,” Clarence said.
Marie's daughter Destiny Perdue said she brought joy and laughter to any room she entered.
“She was loving, she was outgoing and she was caring. Anytime you came around her, you were going to laugh. My mama loved people she loved everybody that came around her,” Perdue said.
Police said they responded to the 5000 block of Roosevelt Highway on Dec. 17 after receiving a call about a woman who had possibly died.
When they arrived, police said Marie was unresponsive. The driver of the vehicle, who relatives said was her boyfriend, 62-year-old Jeffrey Larrail Amie was arrested at the scene.
“He shouldn’t be walking the street right now,” Clarence said.
Amie was charged with concealing Clemmons’ death, not her murder, and released on bond.
Even though the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office hasn't released a cause of death, the family still doesn't believe any potential suspect should be out on bond – before an autopsy can clear him.
“I don’t know how they can let someone like that out of jail,” Marie’s sister Millicent Foster said.
“We’re grieving right now because we want justice for Marie,” Clarence added.
The family said the funeral home director described wounds and trauma to Marie's body that was alarming for the family.
Her sister Millicent and other relatives believe Marie’s life was tragically taken and they want answers.
“I just want justice for my sister because she did not deserve to go that way My heart goes out to her. My sister is a grandma. Her life was taken too short,” Millicent said.
11Alive has been in contact with police and the medical examiner's office working to get answers. So far, no cause of death or possible motive has been released.