A medical examiner’s report is providing new details into a grisly double murder-suicide that rocked the metro Atlanta community earlier this year.
Marsha Edwards, the ex-wife of a prominent Atlanta surgeon and civic leader, repeatedly shot her adult children in the family’s upscale home in August before killing herself with a shot to the chest, an autopsy released Wednesday by the Cobb County Medical Examiner’s Office revealed.
Dr. Marsha Edwards (center) had recently traveled to spend time with her son Chris (left) in Miami, and daughter Erin in Italy. (Image: WSB-TV / video screenshot)
Edwards’ body, along with those of her children 20-year-old Erin Edwards and 24-year-old Christopher Edwards II, were discovered during a wellness check at their town home in the Atlanta suburb of Vinings last summer. At the time, authorities concluded that Erin and Chris both died of gunshot wounds, while Marsha was fatally injured by an “apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.”
Erin was shot in the chest and twice in her left arm, her autopsy findings showed. She died in the same room as her mother.
Christopher Edwards II was struck a total of six times; once in the back of the head, once in the shoulder and left arm, and twice in the back, according to the autopsy report. He was killed in a separate room on another level of the home while in bed, police said.
The autopsy doesn’t reveal which of her children Marsha shot first. So far, authorities do not suspect anyone else was involved.
“Per meeting with Detective Murphy of the Cobb County Police Department, the investigation shows no evidence of a fourth party being involved in the three deaths at this residence,” the autopsy for Marsha, 58, states. “Based on information available at this time, the cause of death is certified as gunshot wound of the chest.”
“Given the findings of the police investigation, the manner of death is certified as suicide,” it concludes.
The deaths came as a shock to friends and family of the Edwards, who were well-connected and revered across Atlanta. Marsha’s ex-husband, Dr. Chris Edwards, is a prominent orthopedic surgeon and chair of the Atlanta Housing Authority. He also serves on the board of trustees at Morehouse School of Medicine and formerly headed the United Way of Greater Atlanta Health Committee.
His son, Chris Edwards II, was an Elon University graduate who worked as a digital content manager for the City of Atlanta and in the Mayor’s Office of Film and Entertainment.
Erin Edwards, the daughter, was a student at Boston University and had just finished a summer internship with WNBC in New York. Both children were just starting their careers in the media/television industry.
Marsha Edwards founded MME Enterprises, LLC, a medical equipment supply company, in 2015, according to the company’s website. She was also an active member of several Black community organizations, including the Atlanta Chapter of Jack and Jill of America.
Shortly before the killings, Edwards gushed about her kids on social media.
“I’ve had the best summer, first with [Chris] in Miami, and Erin in Italy,” she wrote in a final Instagram post. “I could not ask for better children.”
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