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'It pretty much broke our hearts' | Douglasville family fined by HOA after deadly Sweet 16 party shooting

The shooting happened March 4 after a Sweet 16 party but the family claims the accused shooters were not invited and not even guests in their home.

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. — A family is now facing a $10,000 fine after a deadly shooting in their Douglasville neighborhood. 

It's been two months since the shooting that killed two teens and injured seven others, which happened after the family hosted a Sweet 16 celebration for their daughter on the night of March 4.

The mother of the girl, who hosted the Sweet 16 party, said they feel like they are victims in a way too.

"We're dealing with depression, anxiety, PTSD, you name it," said Chrystal Walker-Cherry after receiving notice of a huge fine from her neighborhood's HOA. 

She said the neighborhood joined her in a prayer walk after the shooting. Then, weeks later – Walker-Cherry's cousin, who owns the house they rent on Talkeetna Road, received a letter from the attorney of the Chaparral Ridge HOA stating, "You are hereby given notice of a firearm violation and fines of $10,000."

"It pretty much broke our hearts," Walker-Cherry said. 

The letter goes on to say in part, "On March 5, your tenants hosted a birthday party attended by more than 100 teenagers. During the Sweet 16 celebration, shots rang out leaving 2 teenagers killed and 7 others wounded." 

Walker-Cherry said only half of those teens attended the party. She said they checked the bags of all the guests and ended the party when they smelled marijuana.

"At that point, 'OK, it's over. Cut the lights on, it's over. Everybody, call your parents.' And that's how it ended," Walker Cherry recalled. 

The letter goes on to explain that there's an HOA rule in place prohibiting the use of firearms in their community and that property owners and tenants are responsible for their guests.

However, Walker-Cherry contends the shooting suspects were never their guests.

"The people that did this shooting, they stayed at the top of the hill on Sitka Road until the party was let out," she said.

Walker-Cherry said they responded with their own letter.

"No one was harmed on my property and the assailants never attended nor was invited to the event," she wrote.

She said they've also had a virtual meeting with the HOA to try to explain what happened. Walker-Cherry said while dealing with the trauma from the shooting, this is more than they can handle.

"It's so heartless to know, that you'd come at somebody at such a vulnerable time," she said. "It's terrible."

She said the deadline to pay the fine is Jan. 1, 2024, but they are fighting it.

11Alive reached out to the Chaparral Ridge HOA. Their attorney issued the following statement about the fine:

The Association has dealt exclusively with the owner of the property, as we do not have a relationship with the tenant. The recorded governing covenants expressly state that “The use of firearms in the Community is prohibited.” The owner’s tenant hosted a party that got out of control. A board member witnessed more than 50 kids loitering outside the home. 

The attorney also said in the statement that the HOA board believes that it was "hard to think of a more serious violation". He also said that the board believes the fine amount is "reasonable" given that the firearm that was in community violation killed two children and injured six others.

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