In March of 1980, the city of Atlanta was gripped by a series of terrifying child murders, and 12-year-old Angel Lenair, an African-American female, tragically became one of the victims. On the afternoon of March 4th, after finishing her homework, Angel left her home in southwest Atlanta, dressed in a denim outfit. She was last seen at a friend's house watching the television show 'Sanford and Son.'
When she didn't return home for her own favorite program, her mother grew worried and contacted the police.
Six days later, on March 10th, her body was discovered in a wooded, vacant lot along Campbellton Road. The young girl was found tied to a tree with an electrical cord. Her hands were also bound with an electrical cord, and a pair of white underwear that did not belong to her had been stuffed into her mouth. The cause of death was determined to be ligature strangulation.
The investigation into Angel's murder, part of the larger Atlanta Child Murders case, has been complex and frustrating. While two men were initially questioned in connection with her death, they were ultimately cleared, and no one has ever been charged. One of the men reportedly wore a belt made of electrical cord and had a prior arrest for grabbing a child. Wayne Williams, who was convicted of two adult murders and linked to many of the child killings, has never been charged specifically with Angel Lenair's murder. Her case officially remains unsolved, one of the many haunting tragedies of that dark period in Atlanta's history. In March 2019, the Atlanta police reopened the cases of the Atlanta Child Murders in the hope that new technology could lead to convictions for the unresolved cases.
