One Year Later

Judi Duffy was in the kitchen baking a pie at her Virginia-Highland apartment one year ago when she heard “a really loud noise.”

Moments later, Duffy and neighbors looked outside and found 39-year-old Charles Boyer lying on the pavement. They quickly realized the loud noise was the sound of gunshots.

It was one year ago on Nov. 22, 2010, that three masked men approached Boyer and his girlfriend outside a Virginia Avenue apartment complex. Boyer lost his life trying to fight them off as his girlfriend escaped, police said last year after the killing.

The killing and the uptick in crime within those few months shook the community. The neighborhood known more for boutiques and bars than the crime rate was forever changed.

Neighbors who never met Boyer stood outside for hours that night as police, investigators and media arrived on the scene.

“We just all kind of stood around as more and more police came,” Duffy told Patch on Tuesday. “We just sort of stood vigil there. We didn’t really know what to do, but we didn’t want to leave him.”

No one knew the victim or each other, but this unexplained killing pushed neighbors to lean on each other.

Duffy said neighbors exchanged contact information that night, and in the days and weeks after the incident, a strong support system was built.

“It raised a new awareness of who we live next to,” Duffy said. “This brought the whole community together.”

One year later, the neighborhood is stronger and more connected than ever.

Neighborhood Watch

Soon after the shooting, Duffy and neighbors created a neighborhood watch program in the apartment complex that connects to the watch program organized by the Virginia-Highland Civic Association.

Today, Duffy is the captain of the program in the complex and she continues to keep the lines of communication open between neighbors in the community.

John Wolfinger, head of the neighborhood watch group in Virginia-Highland, said he tried to start a watch program in the apartment complex in the past, but saw little interest.

He said he was impressed with how easy it was after the incident to find street captains that “were interested in making sure their neighbors knew each other.”

A year later, he said there is still good organization within the complex and people continue to communicate and get to know each other — the key to a successful watch program like the one in Virginia-Highland, he said.

“People who know each other tend to look out for each other,” Wolfinger said. “I must say that 10 times a week, but it really does work.”

Major Keith Meadows, head of the major crimes unit in the Atlanta Police Department, said the community support throughout the investigation, specifically during the canvass of the neighborhood, sent an important message.

“Whenever you have that kind of support in a community, it puts the criminal element on notice,” Meadows told Patch via e-mail on Tuesday. “We had a huge showing from not only the community, but from politicians and business owners as well.”

Emergency Alert System

The tragic death of Boyer brought together the Virginia-Highland Apartments community, but also affected residents on all corners of the neighborhood.

Shortly after the incident, Virginia-Highland residents David Eckoff and Greg Gongola started an emergency alert system for Virginia-Highland.

The alert system, VHAlerts, allows residents to get real-time emergency updates via text message.

Neither Eckoff nor Gongola live in the apartment complex or have any connection to the victim. They just wanted to help keep the neighborhood safe.

"We tried to create something that is a real-time neighborhood watch system," Eckoff said. "If I saw someone running up the street with a gun, I'd want to tell people to run and take cover."

Alerts are only sent out in the event that residents need to be notified immediately, such as the .

The suspects

for the “alleged gang-related murder of a Virginia Highland man,” according to the Fulton County District Attorney’s office.

The men — ranging in age from 17 to 22 — are alleged members of the local “Jack Boys” gang and are believed to be responsible for a month-long crime spree that includes the killing of Boyer and rape of a Grant Park woman.

Three of the men — Tamario Wise, 18, Robert Veal, 17, and Raphael Cross, 22 — were charged for the Nov. 22 killing.

and remains in jail. Cross was arrested on Dec. 21 and also remains in custody.

Wise was arrested Nov. 28, but was released on Dec. 22, according to the Fulton County Sheriff’s website.

According to the website, he was arrested April 7, 2011, and remains in custody.

All three men are awaiting trial in Fulton County Superior Court.

Editor’s Note: David Eckoff wrote a business and social media column for Virginia-Highland Patch.