A 38-year-old man found dead in a wrecked car early Thursday morning near a Savannah elementary school was shot, Savannah-Chatham police confirmed Friday.
Detectives launched a criminal investigation after finding Roderick Richardson dead about midnight inside a Honda. The car had crashed into a fence surrounding Hodge Elementary School at the intersection of Mills B. Lane Boulevard and Hopkins Street, said police spokesman Julian Miller.
Initially, police called Richardson’s death suspicious, citing injuries inconsistent with wounds typically sustained in similar wrecks.
On Friday, they said the victim had been shot to death.
Family members were shocked to learn of Richardson’s death.
The victim’s father said Richardson was driving to work at nearby Derst Baking Company, where he’d been employed nearly a decade, when he was shot.
“I am just puzzled,” Larry Richardson said of his son’s sudden death. “I’m trying to figure out — to understand why someone would possibly decide he didn’t deserve to live any more.”
A native Savannahian who graduated from Beach High School, Roderick Richardson served in the U.S. Navy after completing school. After leaving the military, he returned to his hometown and started a family. He is survived by a wife and six children.
Larry Richardson, who said his son had a lot of friends in the area and never indicated he had any enemies, spent several years working directly with Roderick.
It was a time period he particularly cherished.
“He was a hard worker,” Larry Richardson said.
“He was very focused, didn’t talk a lot. I used to say, and I meant it, ‘I’d rather have him than two other people working with me, because he’s better.’”
The abrupt death of his son has worried Larry Richardson, who said he no longer feels safe.
“He (Roderick) was on his way to work — he wasn’t out running the streets at midnight,” Larry Richardson said.
“I want people to realize that you can get in your car and head to work and wind up dead. I think that information would benefit the citizens here in Savannah.”
Miller said detectives were continuing to investigate the case.
Richardson’s death marked the 10th homicide reported to Savannah-Chatham police in 2013.
It was the second this week, after 30-year-old Armondo Montes was shot to death Tuesday afternoon at the southside Savannah tire repair shop he owned.
In that case, a suspect, Army Sgt. Emmanuel Perez, 31, surrendered to Hunter Army Airfield police immediately after the shooting.
Perez was turned over to Savannah-Chatham police, who charged him with murder.
Arrests have been made by Savannah-Chatham police in five of the 2013 homicides.
YOU CAN HELP
ANYONE WITH INFORMATION ABOUT RODERICK RICHARDSON’S SHOOTING DEATH IS ASKED TO CALL CRIMESTOPPERS AT 912-234-2020 OR TEXT CRIMES (274637). TIPSTERS REMAIN ANONYMOUS AND MAY QUALIFY FOR A CASH REWARD. A CONFIDENTIAL TIP LINE ALSO IS OPEN DIRECTLY TO INVESTIGATORS AT 912-525-3124.