SUWANEE, Ga. — Edrick Clemons lost the love of his life on the night bullets tore through his Suwanee home on Nov. 22, shattering the life he had built with his wife, Nicole Winds-Clemons.
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As the accused killer prepares to face a judge on Wednesday, Clemons says it’s forgiveness, not anger that is carrying him through his grief.
“Can I be mad at this young man? Yeah, I can. I have my right to,” he said. “But is that going to bring my wife back? No.”
Clemons shared a family, a home, and a future with his wife—one that was stolen in an instant. He was out of town on a business trip when the shooting happened on Baxley Village Trail in Suwanee at around 2:30 in the morning. He returned to bullets in his home and unimaginable pain.
“This light that was extinguished was just a phenomenal being,” he said. “That woman was my everything.”
Nicole was standing in front of the refrigerator with her back turned when a bullet, fired during a drive-by shooting, tore through the front door, a wall, and the appliance before striking her. The same bullet that took her life left a hole in the family she held together.
“That’s gone. Forever gone,” Clemons said.
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Suwanee police say 23-year-old Christian Lessington fired the shots. They believed the target was Nicole’s son, but instead, the bullet struck her. Lessington has been charged with murder and is set to appear before a judge on Wednesday for a preliminary hearing.
Clemons revealed that his eight-month-old grandson was also in the house during the shooting.
“All the random directions that they came from, it could have been a lot worse,” he said.
Despite his unimaginable loss, Clemons is choosing a path of forgiveness. “
“To the gentleman that did it, I forgive you,” he said.
After prayer, he said he is choosing the path of forgiveness.
“Even though you took something from me, I’m going to give back to you,” he said. “I’m going to pray for him.”
Police haven’t revealed what issues the suspect had with Nicole Winds Clemons’s son, citing an ongoing investigation.
Family members have started an online fundraiser to help with expenses after the tragedy. You can contribute to the GoFundMe HERE.
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