Georgia family seeks return of slain daughter's child

"We are currently trying as hard as possible to get Casey back in the custody of my family," he said. He said the family had received an outpouring of support from friends in the Atlanta area, "and hopefully we can catch this guy and draw some kind of closure to this crazy situation."

Patterson said Corrissa Friends had moved several times around the Atlanta area to get away from Jeffrey, and that police had been called to the apartment about a domestic dispute the day before the killing. Officers found no evidence of violence at the apartment, and Jeffrey was not arrested. But because Jeffrey's name was not on the lease, they told him to leave at Friends' request, Patterson said.

Early the next morning, Patterson said, Jeffrey returned to the apartment and shot Corrissa three times with a shotgun -- twice from the front, once from behind. She was able to call 911, but died before an ambulance arrived, the chief said.

He said witnesses put Jeffrey at the apartment less than five minutes before the shooting, and police recovered the shotgun used in the killing at the scene. He said he expected Casey would be back with her maternal grandparents, but, "The wheels of justice sometimes move a little slowly from our perspective."

"It should have happened yesterday or the day before," Patterson said.