Rockdale County woman murdered in her home remembered by family, friends

ROCKDALE COUNTY, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - A Rockdale County woman was remembered Monday night. Loretta Goolsby was murdered in her own home earlier this month. Friends and family gathered outside the home with song and prayer. 

Goolsby was reported missing April 6 when her landlord couldn't get in touch with her. 

RELATED: Missing Rockdale County person found dead in their home

"She didn't get back in touch with me, and it was a week later when we called the police, the reason being her car wasn't here if her car had been here I would have come by the next day," said McNeal Freeman. 

That following Friday police found her body in a locked bedroom inside her house on Lester Road. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation ruled her death a homicide and the hunt was on for her killer. 

RELATED: Deputies: Rockdale County woman's death 'suspicious'

Police arrested Alfred Jermain Arnold for her murder a week later.  He was picked up in Lowndes County in south Georgia for a probation violation. In addition to murder, he is also charged with arson, aggravated assault and theft by taking.  According to Freeman, Arnold had been staying in the house with Goolsby for a short time to help pay rent. 

The arrest is a relief to Goolsby's friends, but they still have a lot of questions. 

"You have the whats, the whys, the hows and you want the answers to those questions that you may never get answers to," said Evangelist Renee Simpson with Bible Way Worldwide Ministries. Simpson is a friend and former classmate of Goolsby. 

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