Father of three fatally shot while chasing suspected thief

Police searching for shooter who killed a father of 3

A heartbroken family is grieving the loss of a local man who was shot and killed in DeKalb County. Loved ones say 32-year-old Derek Cummings was shot last week when he went after someone who stole something off his work truck.

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - A DeKalb County family is in mourning after a 32-year-old father was shot and killed while chasing down a suspected thief near a daycare center on Columbia Drive.

What they're saying:

Relatives say Derek Cummings was doing yard work at the daycare on Friday afternoon when someone stole an item from his work truck. A daycare employee alerted him, and Cummings attempted to recover the stolen item.

"And when he came up, right, they were pulling up with his phone and he went behind that," said his mother, Sharon Jennings.

Cummings, a truck driver who also operated a lawn care business, jumped into his vehicle and followed the thief’s car. Family members said the pursuit ended at a nearby fire station, where the suspected thief shot Cummings and then fled the scene in the victim’s truck.

Medics transported Cummings to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

A man was shot outside a DeKalb County fire station located along Columbia Drive on July 25, 2025. (FOX 5)

Jennings described her son as a generous and hardworking man.

"Derek was a good-hearted person," she said. "He would give you the shirt off of his back. He was a good man. He just worked and provided for his family."

Cummings left behind a fiancée and three children, including a newborn who was just a week old.

"His kids loved him. He loved his kids," said Jennifer Leriche, his fiancée. "They took him too early. He was a good person. Good person. Can't nobody say nothing bad about him."

What you can do:

Cummings did not have life insurance, and his mother has started a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for funeral expenses.

"Whoever did it is still out there," Jennings said. "And I want to say to them, y’all don't know what y’all have done. Y’all don't know what y’all took from us. That man was everything to us."

What's next:

DeKalb County Police are continuing their investigation and searching for the killer.