In the early morning hours of April 24, 2019, the life of 33-year-old Kimberly Lashay Tarver, a female from Columbus, Georgia, was tragically cut short. She was found deceased from a gunshot wound on a playground in a park on 33rd Street. The investigation into her death would reveal a chilling sequence of events captured on surveillance footage, yet years later, her case remains unsolved, leaving a family without answers and a community with a lingering sense of injustice.
On that Wednesday morning, at approximately 5:00 a.m., Kimberly was seen leaving a Marathon Gas Station located in the 3400 block of Veterans Parkway. She then walked into the nearby park. Tragically, she would never leave. Further investigation by the Columbus Police Department uncovered that an unknown male had followed her into the park. This individual was only in the park for a few moments before he was seen leaving.
Authorities released security camera video of a person of interest in the summer of 2019. The video showed a Black male, estimated to be between 25 and 40 years of age, standing between 5'8' and 6' tall, and weighing approximately 160 to 200 pounds. He had facial hair and was wearing a dark jacket, blue jeans, black shoes or boots, and a green ball cap. This individual is considered a strong person of interest in the case, as he was seen with Tarver in the last moments of her life. Witnesses who were passing by on bicycles reportedly saw the crime and later identified the man in the surveillance video at the Marathon gas station. Despite this, the man's identity remains unknown to the police.
The Columbus Police Department continues to seek information from the public regarding Kimberly Tarver's death and the identity of the man seen in the surveillance footage. Her homicide is listed as one of the city's unsolved cases. Kimberly was born on August 15, 1985, in Russell County, Alabama, and was a mother to eight children. Her family laid her to rest on May 4, 2019, remembering her as a loving mother, daughter, and sister, as they continue to await justice.
