In the early morning hours of June 13, 2017, a young woman named Tanya Dunlap was tragically killed in the parking lot of a Waffle House on Flat Shoals Parkway in Decatur, Georgia. The incident unfolded after what was reported to be a domestic dispute with her boyfriend, 27-year-old Anthony Henderson Perryman.
The couple, along with Perryman's father, had traveled from Columbus, Georgia, to the Decatur area. After an evening of drinking, they went to the Waffle House. Perryman remained in the car to sleep while his father and Dunlap went inside to eat. Around 1:40 a.m., Dunlap went out to the car, and an argument ensued. Witnesses reported seeing Perryman pulling Dunlap's hair as she tried to get out of the vehicle. After she managed to exit the car, a single gunshot was fired.
Witnesses saw Dunlap fall to the pavement and recounted Perryman driving around the parking lot with a car door open, yelling threats before speeding away from the scene. Two young women ran into the restaurant shouting, 'He shot her. He shot her.' A customer who ran outside to help found Dunlap still breathing but she ultimately succumbed to a single gunshot wound to the head while on the way to the hospital.
Perryman fled to Columbus, Georgia, but was apprehended by the DeKalb County Fugitive Squad two days later. He was taken into custody and charged with murder. During his trial, surveillance footage from the Waffle House parking lot was presented as evidence. The video showed an SUV, where Perryman was located, and a white car. It captured Dunlap walking to the car, and then falling to the ground as the SUV quickly left the scene.
The chief medical examiner for DeKalb County testified that Dunlap was shot once on the left side of her head and estimated that the gun was fired from a distance of two to three feet. Perryman testified in his own defense, claiming he was asleep in the back of the car and did not know how he got there. However, he was convicted of malice murder and other charges. His conviction and sentence were later affirmed on appeal.
