December 9, 2025 • 19 mins
A random encounter in a college-town parking lot leaves an 18-year-old student dead… and a community demanding answers.
Anna Jones had just graduated high school and was enjoying a summer night out with friends — minutes from the university she planned to attend in the fall. But when a drunk professor approached their car and opened fire, a senseless act of violence ended her future before it began.
Investigators would soon uncover how a night of reckless behavior escalated into tragedy — and how the failures of those who could have intervened allowed a dangerous man to roam free.
In this episode of Murder U, we tell Anna’s story — a young woman full of life, ambition, and compassion — and explore the heartbreaking ripple effects of a tragedy that should never have happened.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/murder-u--6152042/support.
Anna Jones had just graduated high school and was enjoying a summer night out with friends — minutes from the university she planned to attend in the fall. But when a drunk professor approached their car and opened fire, a senseless act of violence ended her future before it began.
Investigators would soon uncover how a night of reckless behavior escalated into tragedy — and how the failures of those who could have intervened allowed a dangerous man to roam free.
In this episode of Murder U, we tell Anna’s story — a young woman full of life, ambition, and compassion — and explore the heartbreaking ripple effects of a tragedy that should never have happened.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/murder-u--6152042/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Oh my gosh. I can't thank you all enough for listening.
We've had thousands of downloads already and we're just getting started. Anyway,
can I ask you a huge favor. If you're loving
Murder You, could you give us a five star review?
It really helps us out and ensures we can keep
bringing you great true crime stories thanks a bunch Abnormia.
(00:25):
From high school hallways to expansive college campuses and the
sanctity of their homes, these once secure spaces have transformed
into hunting grounds for sinister individuals seeking to inflict harm
on the unsuspecting. I'm your host, Mattie. Join me here
each week as we investigate the bone chilling stories of
senseless murders occurring in and around our centers of education.
(00:48):
Welcome to Murder You, an Abnormia original. Welcome back to
(01:18):
Murder You. This week, we're diving into another case that's
every parent's worst nightmare. I personally remember being told by
my parents to be aware of my surroundings at all times,
especially as a young woman, and especially in dark, isolated
places like parking garages. There's just something so eerie about them,
(01:39):
especially when you're alone. The way your steps echo as
you walk the way. They seem so vast and yet
suffocating at the same time. And if you were trapped
in a parking garage with someone dangerous, there isn't always
an easy way out. This week's episode is a classic
example of the dangers that can lurk within a parking
garage case of being in the wrong place at the
(02:02):
wrong time. The victim in this case was randomly shot,
which was the last thing anyone could have imagined would
happen when she left home to enjoy a night out
with friends. It's just so random and nonsensical. The details
of this case are hardly believable. This wasn't a crime
of passion or a targeted killing. It was a random
act of violence that resulted in the death of a
(02:25):
young girl who didn't live long enough to experience her
first semester of college. And the wildest part, it was
committed by a man who might well have ended up
being one of her professors. Let's get into the murder
of eighteen year old Anna Lynne Jones. Anna was born
on November thirtieth, two thousand and three, to parents Carl
(02:45):
Jefferson and Jessica Rene Waddle in Carrollton, Georgia. She was
raised about eight miles west of Carrollton in a town
called Mount Zion. For her entire life, she had a
younger sister, Bailey, and the two were very close. On
Anna's memorial website, Bailey stated that Anna was a dream
follower and did everything she could to get what she wanted.
(03:08):
Anna cared deeply about her future and was determined to
make a good life for herself, but always had the
time to be silly and bring a smile to others faces.
Her obituary is proof that she was a real go
getter too. It details that she was an athlete, participating
in track, soccer, and cheerleading. She was also an honor
(03:29):
student who was on the homecoming court every year at
Mount Zion High School. Her education was very important to
her and she clearly had a lot of school spirit.
The cover photo of her memorial page is a large
aerial shot of the Mount Zion High School football field,
with Anna's senior photo smiling above it in her white
(03:49):
cap and gown like she's looking over her school from heaven.
Anna had just graduated from Mount Zion High School in
the spring of twenty twenty two, she'd been accepted to
the un University of West Georgia, a college located right
near her hometown in Carroll County. She was very close
to her family and friends, which explains why she was
so content staying in her hometown for school. It's unique
(04:12):
to her of a student, especially one is celebrated as
Anna with excellent grades and a handful of extracurriculars to
stay put in their college years. Many kids that age
want to get as far away from their hometown as possible,
so it seems like Anna had a very strong connection
to her hometown, which I think is admirable. She loved
(04:33):
to help people and figured the best way to turn
that passion into a career would be to pursue nursing.
It's so tragic that the world was robbed of someone who,
based on everything her friends and family said about her,
would have made an amazing nurse who would have touched
so many lives. But her dream of saving lives was
cut short by someone with a very different agenda. Anna
(04:56):
was enjoying the summer with her friends as any fresh
graduate would do. With plans of heading to the University
of West Georgia in the fall. Anna was making the
most of her freedom. She'd been enjoying a Friday evening
out with friends well into the night of July twenty
ninth at Adamson Square, a popular shopping location in Carrollton
that was a five minute drive away from the University
(05:18):
of West Georgia. Adamson Square was popular with students and faculty,
and is described on its website as a vibrant city
center of Carrollton. At midnight, the girls decided it was
time to leave. They got in a friend's car and
prepared to exit the parking garage of Adamson Square, having
no clue what horrors awaited them. Just a block away,
(05:40):
Richard Sigmund was at a local pizza place called Leopoldos,
and he wasn't enjoying his night as much as Anna
and her friends. The forty seven year old University of
West Georgia professor, who lectured about management and entrepreneurship during
the week, spent in his Friday drinking at various bars
around the area. All of the bars were owned and
(06:02):
operated by a local entrepreneur named Frederico Leopoldo Jimenez. One
of the establishments was a pizza bar at Adamson square
called the Leopoldo's that was open late into the night,
Sigmund planted himself on a bar stool to sit and
drink away the rest of the night. As midnight approached,
(06:22):
Sigmund had become belligerently drunk and he got into an
argument with a fellow patron of the restaurant. During the altercation,
he threatened the man with a gun and flashed it
to show him how serious he was. The man notified
security of the dangerous situation, and when security approached him,
they caught a glimpse of Sigmund's gun as well. Despite
(06:44):
knowing Sigmund was armed and dangerous, security merely demanded he
leave the restaurant, rather than calling authorities and having him arrested. Surprisingly,
he didn't put up much of a fight, which I
find so bizarre. You fought all this time, flashed your
gun at these people, and then backed down so easily
once they asked you to leave. I guess the guy
(07:07):
must have been really broken up over not being able
to get any more pizza or beer for the night,
so he left. And this is where the fatal mistake
was made. Security, whose job it was to keep people safe,
just let a man who was horribly drunk out into
their shopping center with a firearm. He had already threatened someone,
(07:28):
and rather than be taken into custody, was now out
roaming the streets armed. It was only a matter of
time before Sigmund hurt himself or someone else. Sigmund stumbled
out of Leopoldo's and walked a block to the parking
garage of Adamson Square. Some sources say he followed the
man from the pizza place into the parking deck where
(07:50):
Anna Jones and her friends sat in their car. Other
sources say he just wandered in intoxicated, but either way,
Sigmund entered the lower level of the garage armed and
angry with the worst of intentions. He spotted the card
that held the three young women and approached the passenger
(08:11):
side where Anna sat. He knocked on the passenger window,
brandishing his handgun. I can imagine those girls were so
freaked out seeing an older man with a weapon right
at their window, and it was late at night in
a secluded parking deck with no one around. Naturally, they
became terrified and began to back out of the parking
(08:33):
spot to escape the crazed man. But this is when
Sigmund lifted his arm, pointed his handgun at the passenger
side window and fired three shots. One narrowly missed all
the girls, one hit Anna in the leg, and another
struck her in the neck. I can imagine what Anna's
friends must have been feeling at that moment, watching their
(08:54):
friend get fatally shot. The randomness of it is one
of the things that makes it so tragic and heartbreaking.
The fear of those girls must have felt as they
scrambled to figure out what to do as they saw
their friend was losing blood at an alarming rate, but
they didn't freeze. They maintained their strength for Anna and
followed their instincts to handle the horrible situation. The driver
(09:17):
rushed Anna to the nearest hospital, the Tanner Medical Center,
a mile away. After rushing Anna into the er, her
friends informed staff that she'd been shot by a random
attacker at Adamson Square, which the hospital reported to the
police at twelve twenty seven am. The authorities responded to
the report by rushing to the scene of the crime
(09:38):
that dark and eerie parking deck, and much to their surprise,
Sigmund was still there. Sitting on the ground next to
his gun. Despite having all of that time between the
girls leaving and the investigators arriving, he didn't try to
flee or evade the police. I wonder if he really
was just that intoxicated. He was either s he was
(10:00):
so drunk he didn't fully realize what he'd done, or
he was so drunk that he couldn't think on his
feet quickly enough to be a more clever criminal. Either
excuse looked bad for him, but proved beneficial to the investigation.
When police approached him, they found that he had a large,
bloody abrasion across his forehead. Take a look on our
(10:21):
instagram at the mug shot. It's a really gnarly and
gross cut. Police believed he received the wound on his
forehead and another on his leg sometime after the shots
were fired and before authorities arrived at the scene and
planned to review the security footage from the garage to
determine how he got it, but have since not publicized
(10:42):
how exactly Sigmund injured his forehead. I think it's safe
to assume that due to a severe intoxication, he may
have stumbled and injured himself, but being falled down drunk
is no excuse for murdering a brilliant young student, and
based on what Sigmund told police when they arrived, the
injury may have been a purposeful attempt at covering up
(11:03):
the recklessness of his crime. Sigmund told police that he
shot in self defense after someone else shot at him. Yep,
that's right. He a forty seven year old man, claimed
he shot at an eighteen year old girl in a
parked car to defend himself. He truly must have been
(11:24):
wasted to think anyone would buy that story. As you
might expect, the police didn't buy it and took him
into custody, and when they later reviewed the security footage,
they confirmed that Sigmund randomly approached the car full of
young women and shot at them in a booze soaked rage,
fatally striking Anna in the neck. There was no altercation
(11:46):
in the parking lot, and no one fired at Sigmund.
He simply committed a random act of violence. Though her
friends did their best to get her wounds tended to
in time, Anna died at the hospital. My heart breaks
for them. It must have been a nightmare to witness
(12:07):
a friend basically die in your arms, and when Anna's
family was informed of the senseless attack, they were also
shocked and devastated that their beloved Anna was suddenly taken
from them. Once word got out about Anna's death on Saturday,
July thirtieth, the University of West Georgia took immediate action
(12:30):
and fired Sigmund from his lecture position that very day. Yeah,
I can imagine it's a pretty bad look for a
college to have a professor who was arrested for possession,
aggravated assault and malice murder. The university's president, doctor Brendan Kelly,
released the following statement on behalf of the university. We
(12:53):
wish to convey our deepest condolences to Anna's family and
many friends. We know this news is difficult to process
and a many members of our university community. We asked
that you keep Anna's family, friends, and all those who
have been touched by the strategy in your thoughts during
this tremendously difficult time. The university also opened up its
(13:15):
counseling and mental health center to students who were feeling
emotionally affected by the shooting. I wonder how many students
who had Sigmund as a lecturer thought back and questioned
every interaction they'd had with the disgraced professor. On Monday,
August one, twenty twenty two, Sigmund was rolled into his
court hearing in a wheelchair, wearing an orange jumpsuit, with
(13:38):
his forehead wound no longer a bright, angry red, but
a dark scab. The leg injury he received on the
night of the shooting is likely the reason for him
being in the wheelchair at this hearing. He was denied
bond by the judge. The DA described his behavior the
night of the shooting as legally unjustified, senseless, and incomprehensible.
(14:03):
For those reasons, Sigmund was denied bond and remained incarcerated
before his official trial on October thirtieth. And if it
wasn't audacious enough to randomly shoot a woman and claim
self defense. During his trial, Sigmund attempted to shift blame
for his crime. Jim Myers, the attorney for the Jones family,
(14:25):
told eleven Alive News the judge heard a little bit
of Sigmund's explanation and put a stop to it. He
let him talk, but the judge didn't want to hear
that and encourage Sigmund to accept responsibility to give the
family closure. This wasn't the day for blame shifting. It's
(14:46):
definitely inspiring to know that Sigmund's attempt to shift the
blame were brushed off by everyone. No one was going
to be fooled by the guy. Sigmund pleaded guilty that
day as a part of a plea deal that allowed
him to receive life in prison plus fifty five years
with the possibility of parole instead of life without the
(15:06):
possibility of parole. Anna's father, Carl stated after the sentencing,
we are glad this case is over, but this is
not the end of the suffering for our family. All
we have now are memories. Holidays are not holidays without her.
Anna was always the life of the party, and now
she's gone forever. We are struggling and we are lost
(15:28):
without her. The punishment and sentence will never bring back Anna.
In August of twenty twenty three, Anna's mother, Jessica, filed
a lawsuit against the gunmen and the pizza bar Leopoldos,
holding the establishment semi responsible for her daughter's death. After
investigating Sigmund's passed further, Jessica's attorney uncovered that Sigmund had
(15:52):
had a history of disruptive and belligerent behavior at the restaurant,
and his potential danger had never been taken to her.
The lawsuit regarded Leopoldo's as negligent by never bringing the
authorities in to handle any of his altercations. The lawsuit reads,
rather than calling the police or otherwise ensure that a drunk, armed,
(16:15):
belligerent man did not continue to endanger lives, security forced
Sigmund out into the public without taking any reasonable precautions
and without any notice to anyone. It's true by not
involving the authority sooner, Sigmund felt empowered to continue wrecking
havoc on the pizza place. If Jimenez or any of
(16:36):
his three establishments had taken the threatening nature of Sigmund's
behavior more seriously, especially once the gun came out, Anna
may still be alive and her friends and family would
never have been traumatized by this event. All they had
to do was inform the authorities of an armed and
intoxicated man wandering around Adamson Square. The lawsuit seeks damages
(16:59):
that account for the cost of Anna's funeral and the
value of her life of course, no amount of money
can cover the cost of a loved one. However, her
family and Jim Myers, their attorney, said they hope this
lawsuit will send a message to business owners. Speaking about
the lawsuit, Meyers said, send a message to the community
(17:19):
and the people who own establishments like this that firearms
and alcohol do not mix, and firearms and intoxication do
not mix. And if you're going to have an establishment
in a busy college bar area, you need to have
highly trained security who can deal with a situation like this.
The lawsuit is still ongoing, but I truly hope that
(17:41):
Anna's family gets the closure and justice they deserve. It's
so eery to think that had this tragic event not happened,
Anna would have attended the University of West Georgia and
possibly crossed paths with Sigmund. Maybe she would have made
friends in the business school who had him as their professor.
Or maybe she would have changed her mind about being
(18:02):
a nurse and gone into business herself. Just one bad decision,
like getting wasted and pulling out your gun in a
drunken rage, can change the course of so many lives.
If Leopoldos had taken more responsibility as an establishment and
recognized this Sigmund could have been a danger to the public.
Anna could have been allowed to pursue her dream of
(18:24):
becoming a nurse and one day having her own family.
In her memory, Anna's dad, Carl, shared that it was
always her dream to be a wife and mother, and
she even kept a list of future baby names on
her phone. That's truly relatable behavior for young women, which
just reinforces how due to the randomness of this attack,
(18:44):
the victim could have been anyone. Anna was just at
the wrong place, in a parking garage, in a car,
in the passenger seat at the wrong time. I'm going
to end here with one last quote from her father
that I think sums up there. You took our hopes
for what we knew Anna would become and what she
(19:04):
would accomplish, the life she would have lived, the lives
she would have touched, the life she would have given,
and the lives she would have saved as a nurse.
Thank you for listening to this episode of Murder You
and remember, if you or someone you know is in crisis,
please call or text nine eight eight, go to the
(19:26):
nearest emergency room, reach out to a twenty four hour
crisis center or a mobile crisis outreach team in your area.
Oh my gosh. I can't thank you all enough for listening.
We've had thousands of downloads already and we're just getting started. Anyway,
can I ask you a huge favor. If you're loving
Murder You, could you give us a five star review?
It really helps us out and ensures we can keep
bringing you great true crime stories thanks a bunch Abnormia.
(00:25):
From high school hallways to expansive college campuses and the
sanctity of their homes, these once secure spaces have transformed
into hunting grounds for sinister individuals seeking to inflict harm
on the unsuspecting. I'm your host, Mattie. Join me here
each week as we investigate the bone chilling stories of
senseless murders occurring in and around our centers of education.
(00:48):
Welcome to Murder You, an Abnormia original. Welcome back to
(01:18):
Murder You. This week, we're diving into another case that's
every parent's worst nightmare. I personally remember being told by
my parents to be aware of my surroundings at all times,
especially as a young woman, and especially in dark, isolated
places like parking garages. There's just something so eerie about them,
(01:39):
especially when you're alone. The way your steps echo as
you walk the way. They seem so vast and yet
suffocating at the same time. And if you were trapped
in a parking garage with someone dangerous, there isn't always
an easy way out. This week's episode is a classic
example of the dangers that can lurk within a parking
garage case of being in the wrong place at the
(02:02):
wrong time. The victim in this case was randomly shot,
which was the last thing anyone could have imagined would
happen when she left home to enjoy a night out
with friends. It's just so random and nonsensical. The details
of this case are hardly believable. This wasn't a crime
of passion or a targeted killing. It was a random
act of violence that resulted in the death of a
(02:25):
young girl who didn't live long enough to experience her
first semester of college. And the wildest part, it was
committed by a man who might well have ended up
being one of her professors. Let's get into the murder
of eighteen year old Anna Lynne Jones. Anna was born
on November thirtieth, two thousand and three, to parents Carl
(02:45):
Jefferson and Jessica Rene Waddle in Carrollton, Georgia. She was
raised about eight miles west of Carrollton in a town
called Mount Zion. For her entire life, she had a
younger sister, Bailey, and the two were very close. On
Anna's memorial website, Bailey stated that Anna was a dream
follower and did everything she could to get what she wanted.
(03:08):
Anna cared deeply about her future and was determined to
make a good life for herself, but always had the
time to be silly and bring a smile to others faces.
Her obituary is proof that she was a real go
getter too. It details that she was an athlete, participating
in track, soccer, and cheerleading. She was also an honor
(03:29):
student who was on the homecoming court every year at
Mount Zion High School. Her education was very important to
her and she clearly had a lot of school spirit.
The cover photo of her memorial page is a large
aerial shot of the Mount Zion High School football field,
with Anna's senior photo smiling above it in her white
(03:49):
cap and gown like she's looking over her school from heaven.
Anna had just graduated from Mount Zion High School in
the spring of twenty twenty two, she'd been accepted to
the un University of West Georgia, a college located right
near her hometown in Carroll County. She was very close
to her family and friends, which explains why she was
so content staying in her hometown for school. It's unique
(04:12):
to her of a student, especially one is celebrated as
Anna with excellent grades and a handful of extracurriculars to
stay put in their college years. Many kids that age
want to get as far away from their hometown as possible,
so it seems like Anna had a very strong connection
to her hometown, which I think is admirable. She loved
(04:33):
to help people and figured the best way to turn
that passion into a career would be to pursue nursing.
It's so tragic that the world was robbed of someone who,
based on everything her friends and family said about her,
would have made an amazing nurse who would have touched
so many lives. But her dream of saving lives was
cut short by someone with a very different agenda. Anna
(04:56):
was enjoying the summer with her friends as any fresh
graduate would do. With plans of heading to the University
of West Georgia in the fall. Anna was making the
most of her freedom. She'd been enjoying a Friday evening
out with friends well into the night of July twenty
ninth at Adamson Square, a popular shopping location in Carrollton
that was a five minute drive away from the University
(05:18):
of West Georgia. Adamson Square was popular with students and faculty,
and is described on its website as a vibrant city
center of Carrollton. At midnight, the girls decided it was
time to leave. They got in a friend's car and
prepared to exit the parking garage of Adamson Square, having
no clue what horrors awaited them. Just a block away,
(05:40):
Richard Sigmund was at a local pizza place called Leopoldos,
and he wasn't enjoying his night as much as Anna
and her friends. The forty seven year old University of
West Georgia professor, who lectured about management and entrepreneurship during
the week, spent in his Friday drinking at various bars
around the area. All of the bars were owned and
(06:02):
operated by a local entrepreneur named Frederico Leopoldo Jimenez. One
of the establishments was a pizza bar at Adamson square
called the Leopoldo's that was open late into the night,
Sigmund planted himself on a bar stool to sit and
drink away the rest of the night. As midnight approached,
(06:22):
Sigmund had become belligerently drunk and he got into an
argument with a fellow patron of the restaurant. During the altercation,
he threatened the man with a gun and flashed it
to show him how serious he was. The man notified
security of the dangerous situation, and when security approached him,
they caught a glimpse of Sigmund's gun as well. Despite
(06:44):
knowing Sigmund was armed and dangerous, security merely demanded he
leave the restaurant, rather than calling authorities and having him arrested. Surprisingly,
he didn't put up much of a fight, which I
find so bizarre. You fought all this time, flashed your
gun at these people, and then backed down so easily
once they asked you to leave. I guess the guy
(07:07):
must have been really broken up over not being able
to get any more pizza or beer for the night,
so he left. And this is where the fatal mistake
was made. Security, whose job it was to keep people safe,
just let a man who was horribly drunk out into
their shopping center with a firearm. He had already threatened someone,
(07:28):
and rather than be taken into custody, was now out
roaming the streets armed. It was only a matter of
time before Sigmund hurt himself or someone else. Sigmund stumbled
out of Leopoldo's and walked a block to the parking
garage of Adamson Square. Some sources say he followed the
man from the pizza place into the parking deck where
(07:50):
Anna Jones and her friends sat in their car. Other
sources say he just wandered in intoxicated, but either way,
Sigmund entered the lower level of the garage armed and
angry with the worst of intentions. He spotted the card
that held the three young women and approached the passenger
(08:11):
side where Anna sat. He knocked on the passenger window,
brandishing his handgun. I can imagine those girls were so
freaked out seeing an older man with a weapon right
at their window, and it was late at night in
a secluded parking deck with no one around. Naturally, they
became terrified and began to back out of the parking
(08:33):
spot to escape the crazed man. But this is when
Sigmund lifted his arm, pointed his handgun at the passenger
side window and fired three shots. One narrowly missed all
the girls, one hit Anna in the leg, and another
struck her in the neck. I can imagine what Anna's
friends must have been feeling at that moment, watching their
(08:54):
friend get fatally shot. The randomness of it is one
of the things that makes it so tragic and heartbreaking.
The fear of those girls must have felt as they
scrambled to figure out what to do as they saw
their friend was losing blood at an alarming rate, but
they didn't freeze. They maintained their strength for Anna and
followed their instincts to handle the horrible situation. The driver
(09:17):
rushed Anna to the nearest hospital, the Tanner Medical Center,
a mile away. After rushing Anna into the er, her
friends informed staff that she'd been shot by a random
attacker at Adamson Square, which the hospital reported to the
police at twelve twenty seven am. The authorities responded to
the report by rushing to the scene of the crime
(09:38):
that dark and eerie parking deck, and much to their surprise,
Sigmund was still there. Sitting on the ground next to
his gun. Despite having all of that time between the
girls leaving and the investigators arriving, he didn't try to
flee or evade the police. I wonder if he really
was just that intoxicated. He was either s he was
(10:00):
so drunk he didn't fully realize what he'd done, or
he was so drunk that he couldn't think on his
feet quickly enough to be a more clever criminal. Either
excuse looked bad for him, but proved beneficial to the investigation.
When police approached him, they found that he had a large,
bloody abrasion across his forehead. Take a look on our
(10:21):
instagram at the mug shot. It's a really gnarly and
gross cut. Police believed he received the wound on his
forehead and another on his leg sometime after the shots
were fired and before authorities arrived at the scene and
planned to review the security footage from the garage to
determine how he got it, but have since not publicized
(10:42):
how exactly Sigmund injured his forehead. I think it's safe
to assume that due to a severe intoxication, he may
have stumbled and injured himself, but being falled down drunk
is no excuse for murdering a brilliant young student, and
based on what Sigmund told police when they arrived, the
injury may have been a purposeful attempt at covering up
(11:03):
the recklessness of his crime. Sigmund told police that he
shot in self defense after someone else shot at him. Yep,
that's right. He a forty seven year old man, claimed
he shot at an eighteen year old girl in a
parked car to defend himself. He truly must have been
(11:24):
wasted to think anyone would buy that story. As you
might expect, the police didn't buy it and took him
into custody, and when they later reviewed the security footage,
they confirmed that Sigmund randomly approached the car full of
young women and shot at them in a booze soaked rage,
fatally striking Anna in the neck. There was no altercation
(11:46):
in the parking lot, and no one fired at Sigmund.
He simply committed a random act of violence. Though her
friends did their best to get her wounds tended to
in time, Anna died at the hospital. My heart breaks
for them. It must have been a nightmare to witness
(12:07):
a friend basically die in your arms, and when Anna's
family was informed of the senseless attack, they were also
shocked and devastated that their beloved Anna was suddenly taken
from them. Once word got out about Anna's death on Saturday,
July thirtieth, the University of West Georgia took immediate action
(12:30):
and fired Sigmund from his lecture position that very day. Yeah,
I can imagine it's a pretty bad look for a
college to have a professor who was arrested for possession,
aggravated assault and malice murder. The university's president, doctor Brendan Kelly,
released the following statement on behalf of the university. We
(12:53):
wish to convey our deepest condolences to Anna's family and
many friends. We know this news is difficult to process
and a many members of our university community. We asked
that you keep Anna's family, friends, and all those who
have been touched by the strategy in your thoughts during
this tremendously difficult time. The university also opened up its
(13:15):
counseling and mental health center to students who were feeling
emotionally affected by the shooting. I wonder how many students
who had Sigmund as a lecturer thought back and questioned
every interaction they'd had with the disgraced professor. On Monday,
August one, twenty twenty two, Sigmund was rolled into his
court hearing in a wheelchair, wearing an orange jumpsuit, with
(13:38):
his forehead wound no longer a bright, angry red, but
a dark scab. The leg injury he received on the
night of the shooting is likely the reason for him
being in the wheelchair at this hearing. He was denied
bond by the judge. The DA described his behavior the
night of the shooting as legally unjustified, senseless, and incomprehensible.
(14:03):
For those reasons, Sigmund was denied bond and remained incarcerated
before his official trial on October thirtieth. And if it
wasn't audacious enough to randomly shoot a woman and claim
self defense. During his trial, Sigmund attempted to shift blame
for his crime. Jim Myers, the attorney for the Jones family,
(14:25):
told eleven Alive News the judge heard a little bit
of Sigmund's explanation and put a stop to it. He
let him talk, but the judge didn't want to hear
that and encourage Sigmund to accept responsibility to give the
family closure. This wasn't the day for blame shifting. It's
(14:46):
definitely inspiring to know that Sigmund's attempt to shift the
blame were brushed off by everyone. No one was going
to be fooled by the guy. Sigmund pleaded guilty that
day as a part of a plea deal that allowed
him to receive life in prison plus fifty five years
with the possibility of parole instead of life without the
(15:06):
possibility of parole. Anna's father, Carl stated after the sentencing,
we are glad this case is over, but this is
not the end of the suffering for our family. All
we have now are memories. Holidays are not holidays without her.
Anna was always the life of the party, and now
she's gone forever. We are struggling and we are lost
(15:28):
without her. The punishment and sentence will never bring back Anna.
In August of twenty twenty three, Anna's mother, Jessica, filed
a lawsuit against the gunmen and the pizza bar Leopoldos,
holding the establishment semi responsible for her daughter's death. After
investigating Sigmund's passed further, Jessica's attorney uncovered that Sigmund had
(15:52):
had a history of disruptive and belligerent behavior at the restaurant,
and his potential danger had never been taken to her.
The lawsuit regarded Leopoldo's as negligent by never bringing the
authorities in to handle any of his altercations. The lawsuit reads,
rather than calling the police or otherwise ensure that a drunk, armed,
(16:15):
belligerent man did not continue to endanger lives, security forced
Sigmund out into the public without taking any reasonable precautions
and without any notice to anyone. It's true by not
involving the authority sooner, Sigmund felt empowered to continue wrecking
havoc on the pizza place. If Jimenez or any of
(16:36):
his three establishments had taken the threatening nature of Sigmund's
behavior more seriously, especially once the gun came out, Anna
may still be alive and her friends and family would
never have been traumatized by this event. All they had
to do was inform the authorities of an armed and
intoxicated man wandering around Adamson Square. The lawsuit seeks damages
(16:59):
that account for the cost of Anna's funeral and the
value of her life of course, no amount of money
can cover the cost of a loved one. However, her
family and Jim Myers, their attorney, said they hope this
lawsuit will send a message to business owners. Speaking about
the lawsuit, Meyers said, send a message to the community
(17:19):
and the people who own establishments like this that firearms
and alcohol do not mix, and firearms and intoxication do
not mix. And if you're going to have an establishment
in a busy college bar area, you need to have
highly trained security who can deal with a situation like this.
The lawsuit is still ongoing, but I truly hope that
(17:41):
Anna's family gets the closure and justice they deserve. It's
so eery to think that had this tragic event not happened,
Anna would have attended the University of West Georgia and
possibly crossed paths with Sigmund. Maybe she would have made
friends in the business school who had him as their professor.
Or maybe she would have changed her mind about being
(18:02):
a nurse and gone into business herself. Just one bad decision,
like getting wasted and pulling out your gun in a
drunken rage, can change the course of so many lives.
If Leopoldos had taken more responsibility as an establishment and
recognized this Sigmund could have been a danger to the public.
Anna could have been allowed to pursue her dream of
(18:24):
becoming a nurse and one day having her own family.
In her memory, Anna's dad, Carl, shared that it was
always her dream to be a wife and mother, and
she even kept a list of future baby names on
her phone. That's truly relatable behavior for young women, which
just reinforces how due to the randomness of this attack,
(18:44):
the victim could have been anyone. Anna was just at
the wrong place, in a parking garage, in a car,
in the passenger seat at the wrong time. I'm going
to end here with one last quote from her father
that I think sums up there. You took our hopes
for what we knew Anna would become and what she
(19:04):
would accomplish, the life she would have lived, the lives
she would have touched, the life she would have given,
and the lives she would have saved as a nurse.
Thank you for listening to this episode of Murder You
and remember, if you or someone you know is in crisis,
please call or text nine eight eight, go to the
(19:26):
nearest emergency room, reach out to a twenty four hour
crisis center or a mobile crisis outreach team in your area.
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