In the heart of downtown Atlanta, amid the bustle of a city nearing the holiday season, the life of Damaris Rainwater Hawes was brought to a brutal and tragic end. The 37-year-old Black female, a mother of five, was found deceased on the morning of Friday, November 14, 2014. Her death marked another grim statistic in a year that saw a spike in homicides across the city.
Damaris was a mother to three sons and two daughters, whose ages ranged from just one to 20 years old. At the time of her death, she was navigating a period of profound hardship and was experiencing homelessness, a circumstance that left her especially vulnerable. Friends remembered her as a woman who had encountered difficult times but was actively trying to better her situation for her children. However, some family members, including a sister, disputed the characterization of her as homeless, stating that she was employed and a contributing member of society.
Shortly after 11 a.m. on that November morning, police were called to the AAA parking garage located at Kimball Way and Decatur Street, near the campus of Georgia State University. On the first level of the concrete structure, they made a grim discovery: Damaris’s body was inside a sleeping bag. The Fulton County Medical Examiner's office would later determine that she died from severe blunt force trauma to her head, a clear indication of a violent assault.
The Atlanta Police Department’s homicide unit immediately launched an investigation. Detectives were hopeful that the numerous surveillance cameras in the downtown area and within the parking garage itself would yield crucial evidence. They began the painstaking process of reviewing hours of footage, searching for any sign of Damaris in her final hours or any person of interest who may have been connected to her death. Despite their efforts and the initial hope for a quick lead, no significant breakthroughs were publicly announced.
The news of Damaris’s violent death sent ripples of shock and grief through the community. Advocacy groups and friends held vigils to honor her memory and to bring attention to the dangers faced by the city's most vulnerable residents. In the days following her death, family and friends, reeling from what they called a "senseless act," created a fundraising website to help support her five children and to cover the costs of a memorial service. A friend, Annette Green, spoke to a local news outlet about the heartbreak of the discovery, saying, “It would be sad to know she'd be left for someone to find in a sleeping bag.” She added, reflecting on Damaris's children, “To see her two daughters; the devastation and hurt as they cried for their mother.”
A Celebration of Life for Damaris Ruth Rainwater-Hawes was held on Saturday, November 29, 2014, at the Triumph Kingdom of G.I.C. in Ellenwood, Georgia, where family and friends gathered to mourn her passing. But as they sought closure, the official investigation into her murder stalled. No suspects were ever publicly named, and no arrests have been made.
Years have passed, and the case has grown cold. The Atlanta Police Department maintains that the investigation is still active and that they periodically revisit the evidence with the hope that new technology or a new tip might finally lead to a break. As of early 2025, more than a decade after her death, the murder of Damaris Rainwater Hawes remains unsolved. Her family continues to wait for justice, holding onto the hope that someone, somewhere, will come forward with the information needed to find the person responsible for taking a mother’s life far too soon. Authorities and groups like Crime Stoppers of Greater Atlanta continue to ask anyone with information to come forward.
