Cousins killed in DeKalb County double homicide

DECATUR, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - Police in DeKalb County are investigating after two cousins were found dead in a home early Monday morning.

The DeKalb County Police Department said they are investigating a double homicide at a home in the 4400 block of Old Lake Drive in an unincorporated area of DeKalb County. Officers were called to the scene around 12:30 a.m.

Officers arrived at the scene to find the front door had been forced open. Police said inside officers found two men, later identified as 36-year-old Robert Collier and 33-year-old Michael Wigfall, both with gunshot wounds to their heads.

Julius Ball, cousin to both Collier and Wigfall, says he's haunted by the sight of the two men's bodies lying on the floor.

"I ran up the hill. I see my cousin laying by the front door and my other cousin Michael by the back door," Ball said "I don't know if it was a setup or someone got into it with them."

Collier lived at the home. Wigfall was visting from out of town when tragedy struck.

Neighbors told police they had heard gunshots just after midnight. Police said one witness told them two men were at the home, one went inside for a few minutes and then ran out. Investigators said the two men left the scene in a red SUV.

Collier's loved ones say the victims were robbed of their video gaming systems, money, and cellphones. 

Collier, a father of two young children, had lived at the home for several years. Friends describe him as a good guy who'd give you the shirt off his back. 

"A real good guy, you ever needed anything – any amount of money, somewhere to stay, anything – he always lend a helping hand," Collier's friend Rodney Hardy said.  

Family members tell FOX 5 Wigfall, who also had two young children, was a kind, generous man.

"Always smiling, always laughing. He never bothered anybody," Ball said

While police search for the suspects, Ball is struggling to come to grips with his cousins' senseless deaths. 

"I don't know why this would happen to them. Everybody knows him. He's never had no problems to this extent – just never," he said. "I don't know what went wrong." 

Anyone with information is asked to call the DeKalb County Police Department.