FORT VALLEY, Ga. — It's been nearly three years since Pearlie Mae Williams of Fort Valley died from what police called a "savage beating." Fort Valley police are asking for your help in finding her killer.
Latoya Roberts has fond memories of her mother, Pearlie Mae Williams.
"She was a loving person, she was kind. She would give you her last if she had it," Roberts said.
Williams worked at an assisted living home as a cook for more than 10 years.
"She just was a people person, and we still can't understand what happened or what went down," Williams' brother, Frank Parks Sr., said.
Parks now lives in the same home where his sister lived.
"We talk about this every week -- every week -- why it hasn't been solved or anything," Parks said.
Thursday, June 6, 2019 should have been a normal day for Williams, but instead, things took a turn for the worst. Roberts was at work when she received a call from her mother's neighbor who told her.
"The emergency vehicles were outside trying to enter the home and he was concerned," Roberts said.
After Pearlie May didn't show up for work, her boss called police and asked them to check on her.
"I was trying to call her to contact her on the phone, and I couldn't reach her," Roberts said.
"We found her bludgeoned severely and unconscious. There was no indication of forced entry. Especially an assault this violent, it indicates a connection," Fort Valley's Captain of Investigations Cory Marberry said.
Marberry has taken over the case. He says Pearlie May was beaten sometime between 10 p.m. Wednesday and 6 a.m. Thursday. Officers found Williams in critical condition but not dead.
"It's an indescribable feeling of walking down the hallway to the ICU of not knowing what to expect. She did not look like herself," Roberts said.
According to the doctors, Williams suffered blunt force trauma to the head, causing skull fractures and brain trauma.
"Her life changed completely to the point where she needed constant care," Marberry said.
One doctor said the skull fractures actually saved her life, easing the swelling in her brain. Williams never got to leave the hospital.
"She never really got to the point where she could have full conversations with me, just maybe mumble words, but she was never able to have a full sentence, which was very, very heartbreaking," Roberts said.
Pearlie May died seven months later after the beating in January 2020 at age 58.
"She never fully recovered from it, but she fought very hard," Roberts said.
The case then became a homicide investigation.
"We initially developed a few suspects but were able to rule two of them out. We don't have enough evidence to proceed with anything else," Marberry said.
Now, her family still wants answers.
"I truly believe the healing process will begin when we find out who did this to her," Roberts said.
"I tell you, one day, God's going to walk him down. He will walk him down," Parks Sr. said.
If you know of anything, please contact the Fort Valley Police Department or Macon Regional CrimeStoppers at 1 (877) 68-CRIME.