Cherokee firefighter, wife, killed in apparent double homicide in Acworth
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Nov. 19—An Acworth couple shot dead in their home Thursday included a Cherokee County firefighter, Fire Chief Tim Prather confirmed Friday.
Cobb police found Justin Hicks and his wife Amber, both 31, dead from gunshot wounds in their Acworth home near Bells Ferry Road Thursday morning. Cobb County Police spokesman Wayne Delk has said the case is being investigated as a double homicide.
Police also found in that home the couple's two-year-old toddler, who was unharmed. The toddler is now with family members, according to Cobb police.
Justin Hicks, a six-year member of the Cherokee Fire Department who had recently completed his paramedic training, "has always been recognized as a happy, funny, loved by many kind of guy," Prather said in a statement. "He was always a highly motivated, energetic individual who deeply loved his job as a firefighter and consistently worked to do better and be better every day."
As of Friday, Cobb police had not shared any information about potential suspects.
"This incident appears to have occurred overnight, and preliminary information indicates that an unknown assailant (or assailants) is responsible. There is no indication to suggest the assailant remained in the area," Delk said in a news release Thursday.
According to a Facebook page that appeared to belong to Amber Hicks, she worked as an audiology assistant at North Georgia Audiology and Hearing Aide Center and had graduated from Kennesaw State University.
On Sept. 11, she posted a picture of herself, Justin Hicks and their son, standing in front of a handsome brick house.
"So happy we moved! Loving our new home!" she wrote.
As of Friday evening, a GoFundMe fundraiser for the Hicks family had raised almost $10,000.
"On November 18th, we woke up to a nightmare," the fundraiser reads. "Our Amber & Justin have been taken from us in such a senseless act. We can't understand it, and we are still as a family, and as a community processing it. Two literal angels on Earth have been taken too soon. They had their whole life ahead of them, and they leave behind a precious little boy."
