Nearly two decades after a homicide in Dawsonville took the life of 44-year-old Cheryl Williams Frady, a family member of the slain woman says they're hopeful for a breakthrough in the case.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) posted on April 5 that it was the 17-year anniversary of Frady’s death. Frady's daughter, Jessica Richardson, spoke with AccessWDUN about the unsolved case.
“We deserve to see someone be held accountable for this,” Richardson said.
Richardson said she was 23, her younger sister was 21, and her younger brother was 11 at the time of the incident.
“It’s just so unfair that someone thought that they had the right to take her away from us,” she said.
Richardson said she talked to Frady the night before. She had gotten free tickets to see the Atlanta Braves and talked to her about it.
“It’s very frustrating. I feel like I live in a bad movie … even 17 years later, I can’t wrap my mind around that this happened to us,” Richardson said.
Frady was last heard from at around 1:30 a.m. on April 5, 2008 and was found between 4 and 4:30 p.m. in the basement of her home on Brookwood Drive with a gunshot wound.
“My grandma and I are the ones who found her,” Richardson said. “We were supposed to go shopping, we were going on a cruise the next day.”
Richardson said when she found her mom, telling her little sister was the hardest part.
“I’ll never get over the trauma of that day,” Richardson said. “She didn’t know what had happened, and there’s crime scene tape everywhere.”
Richardson said she and her siblings, as well as their extended family, stuck together throughout the trauma that followed.
“I know in times of tragedy, a lot of families kind of fall apart, and we didn’t do that,” Richardson said. “My sister and my brother, we've all really stuck together.”
Richardson commented on her mother’s traits, saying she was loved by everyone.
“She was someone that everybody felt comfortable around. She was the least judgmental person I’ve ever met, she was hilarious. She had a light that was kind of a funny laugh, and it would make you laugh because she was laughing,” Richardson said. “She was so proud of her children.”
Richardson also commented on what her mom has missed after the incident.
“She wasn’t at my wedding, I didn’t get to go wedding dress shopping with her. My brother had to grow up without her," Richardson said.
Richardson said she’s happy with the increased exposure on her mother’s unsolved homicide case, and hopes it can bring someone to justice.
The GBI and the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) are still seeking the public’s help in solving the case. Anyone with information on the death of Frady should contact the GBI’s tip-line at 1 (800) 597-8577.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2025/4/1290324/family-member-of-cheryl-williams-frady-speaks-after-17-anniversary-of-unsolved-murder