Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of the killing of Durand Robinson, an owner of Traxx and one of the key figures in organizing the annual Black Gay Pride celebration held in Atlanta each year over Labor Day weekend.
Some close to the case are saying someone is in custody who police believe is the killer.
On Aug. 5, Wynter Robinson, the daughter of Durand Robinson, tweeted the police had a person in custody for the shooting of her father.
Dasanta Robinson stood in the Campbellton Plaza parking lot Thursday evening with more than a dozen of his family members. They were waiting for the Atlanta Police Department to begin canvassing nearby southwest Atlanta neighborhoods for clues in his brother's death.
"He was really something special," Robinson said of his brother, Durand Robinson, who was shot and killed Aug. 25 on Hadlock Street near East Point.
"It's like we're living in a nightmare and we're waiting for it to be over. I don't understand why anyone would want to kill Durand. He would do anything for anyone," added Robinson, 50, of Decatur.
The daughter of Durand Robinson is hosting a "Party for a Purpose" tonight to bring together the friends and loved ones of her father, a Black Gay Pride organizer who was killed Aug. 25 in an apparent carjacking. The Atlanta Police Department continues to seek the killer.
The party, also dubbed "A Reunion for Durand's 'Kids,'" is at Club Moonlite located at 3302 Laventure Drive, Chamblee, GA 30341 off Buford Highway. Doors open at 10 p.m.
Donations of $5 are being asked and will go to help find Durand Robinson's killer, said his daughter, Wynter Robinson.
It was a bittersweet holiday season for Wynter Robinson, daughter of the late Durand Robinson, the co-owner of Traxx Atlanta who was killed in August.
“The holidays were difficult but I gave back to the community, a tradition my father instilled in me to go into underprivileged neighborhoods and help,” she said.
Robinson, 24, said she purchased gifts for a 5-year old girl who had no other gifts.
“I bought her a lot of presents. It was something he [her father] would have done,” she said.
In the span of two weeks, three people at least associated with the Atlanta LGBT community have been killed. And while the Atlanta Police Department stresses that gay people are not being targeted, there is a buzz from some asking, “What is going on? Are we safe?”
At press time, there were 62 homicides in Atlanta this year with three knowingly related to the LGBT population, said Major Keith Meadows, commander of the Atlanta Police Department’s Major Crimes Section, during an interview Monday at his office at Public Safety Headquarters on Peachtree Street.
As Black Gay Pride swings into full force this weekend, the memory of Durand Robinson will be everywhere. The man who many described as selfless and giving will be honored at parties and events during the weekend, which attracts tens of thousands of people to Atlanta from across the nation and around the world.
Robinson, 50, was shot and killed in the early morning hours of Aug. 25 in southwest Atlanta. The Atlanta Police Department continues to seek suspects and a motive as of press time.