DeKalb County Police identified the 41-year-old woman killed at a grocery store where she worked.
Laquitta Willis was a cashier at the Big Bear grocery store in Decatur where authorities say a man got into a dispute with the woman over the store’s mask policy.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to the Willis family, the injured sheriff’s deputy and everyone impacted by yesterday’s senseless incident,” the DeKalb County Police Department said in a statement.
Authorities say the man, identified as Victor Lee Tucker, Jr. left the store, returned and shot her. An exchange of gunfire between a reserve deputy ensued where both deputy Danny Jordan, 54, and the suspect suffered gunshot wounds.
The store owner told 11Alive that the man was wearing a mask, but that Willis simply asked him to pull it over his face.
Tucker is facing charges of murder and two counts of aggravated assault. He remains in a local hospital and is expected to survive.
The owner said Monday night that Willis was a kind, loving, human being, who simply asked a customer–the suspect–to pull up his face mask.
