Atlanta pastor killed by man she mentored

An Atlanta pastor was killed by a man she was mentoring, WYFF reports.

The Rev. Marita Harrell was stabbed multiple times and burned in a van a few miles from her home in DeKalb County, authorities say.

Christopher Devonta Griggs was charged with murder for allegedly attacking Harrell at his DeKalb County home.

Harrell first mentored Griggs while he was incarcerated in the Fulton County Jail and then after he was released on bail while awaiting several charges, according to Fox5 Atlanta. He failed to appear at two hearings in Gwinnett County on unrelated charges, in March and again on April 28. Several arrest warrants were issued against him at the time of the murder.

Griggs is currently being held in a DeKalb County detention center,

Harrell’s body was allegedly found by her husband and daughter using an app to track her phone.

“I was there and I still didn’t believe it,” Marae Harrell, his daughter, said in an interview with Atlanta television station WAGA-TV. “I expected her to wake up, open her eyes or move.”

Harrell’s work with Griggs led to much conflict within the family.

“It was a point of contention between the two of us, between all of us, especially with this gentleman because he called two weeks ago,” said her husband Antonio Harrell. “She told me, ‘Antonio, God has placed these people in my life, I can’t turn away from them.'”

A police report obtained by Atlanta NBC affiliate WXIA reveals that Antonio Harrell told police he told his wife “not to meet any more people who have just gotten out of prison for safety reasons “. Another friend also expressed concerns about her safety.

The Rev. Fleming Thompson Jr., senior pastor of Rivertown United Methodist Church, where Harrell served from 2016 to 2018, wrote about the unspeakable tragedy on Facebook.

“I know the love Rivertown has for her and the love she has for Rivertown,” Thompson wrote. “We are asked to be in prayer, especially for her husband and daughters.”

Before his untimely death, Harrell was senior pastor at Connections at Metropolitan United Methodist Church.

According to his church’s website, Harrell was a Methodist and a member of Central United Methodist Church for more than 25 years. She began working in ministry after graduating from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology in 2014.

She also served at the Methodist Children’s Home from 2018 until she was named assistant pastor at Newnan Chapel UMC in December 2019.

Harrell is survived by her parents, her husband of more than 27 years, and her two teenage daughters.

We send our prayers and deepest condolences to the family and friends of Pastor Marita Harrell.