MACON, Ga. — Some people are saying they are "sad and scared to go outside" after 41-year-old Ronnie Albea was shot and killed in an attempted armed robbery.
Witnesses told the Bibb County Sheriff's Office that two men approached Albea and his fiancée outside the Harrison Road store and demanded the keys to their car.
When Albea refused, they say a fight broke out. According to the police report, Albea pulled a knife to defend himself, then he was shot in the chest during the fight.
Albea leaves behind his fiancée and two kids. His fiancé, Misty Wood, says he was a sweet man who would've done anything for anyone. Wood says he protected her that night and she wants justice.
Jeanette Turner is a retired Bibb County school teacher.
"We should all be safe going in and out our houses, going where we want to go and come back home safe,” she says.
Turner says she read about the shooting online.
"It's awful. Every week, it seems like somebody got killed about something -- drive-by shooting, or somebody arguing about something and end up killing people,” she explains.
Turner says she's lived in Bibb County her whole life and she doesn't feel safe leaving her house after dark because of the crime in the area. She says it can happen to anyone.
"I feel sad about it happening because they left home going shopping and they intended to go back home and spend the rest of the day, or their life together. Then, something tragic like this happened.”.
Tashyra and Karlee, both 17, are about to be seniors in high school.
"I told her to lock her car before we came here,” Karlee says.
They say they're all too familiar with this kind of crime.
“It's sad how bad the crime has gotten in Macon and I've kind of just watched people my age die,” Karlee explains.
They talked about the reason for all the crime with young people.
“Honestly feel like, ever since COVID, the youth here, they're bored. They have nothing to do, so they feel like they can go out and just do anything,” Tashyra says.
They say their mothers don't like them being outside past 5 p.m. and that murder isn't the answer.
"Living the fast life is really not cool. Like, our lives are a lot more valuable, because how would that make our mothers feel, or the victim's mothers feel? Because one day they have their baby, and the next day they're gone,” Tashyra says.
The sheriff's office says they're still looking for the two men who tried to rob Ronnie Albea. They said both appeared to be in their early 20s. The men were last seen driving a black Volkswagen Passat.
Anybody with information on the case can call Macon Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-877-68-CRIME.