A routine grocery store trip turned into a nightmare for the family of Atlanta Falcons brothers AJ and Avieon Terrell after their beloved aunt was tragically killed in a violent parking lot crash that witnesses say looked “like a missile” slammed through the lot.
Giselle Perry, 49, was sitting in her parked car outside a Kroger supermarket in Decatur, Georgia, on Wednesday afternoon while waiting for her mother when disaster suddenly struck.
According to local reports, a driver lost control and barreled through the parking lot around 3:20 p.m., smashing directly into Perry’s vehicle with terrifying force. Police say the impact shoved her car into a metal pole and sent debris flying across the sidewalk.
Witnesses described a horrifying scene.
“We seen and heard the car coming and two seconds later, boom,” barber Tony Lackey told local reporters. “It was horrible.”
Another witness, Doderick Moore, compared the speeding vehicle to a “missile.”
“The woman came down here like a missile,” he said. “She knocked every brick off that pole in one lick.”
Perry was killed in the crash. A nearby pedestrian also suffered serious injuries, while the driver who allegedly caused the collision was reportedly badly hurt as well.
The driver’s daughter later claimed her mother had blacked out behind the wheel moments after leaving home.
“My mom blacked out while she was driving and she didn’t even know what was happening,” she said.
The heartbreaking loss sent shockwaves through the Atlanta Falcons organization and the Terrell family.
AJ Terrell, the Falcons star cornerback who joined the team in 2020, shared a touching black-and-white tribute photo with his aunt on Instagram, writing: “I can still hear you.”
His younger brother Avieon Terrell, who was recently drafted by Atlanta in the second round of the NFL Draft, also mourned the woman he called one of his biggest supporters.
The 21-year-old shared emotional footage from his high school football days that showed Perry wildly cheering for him from the sidelines after a touchdown.
Just weeks ago, the brothers celebrated an emotional reunion after Avieon joined AJ on the Falcons roster following the draft. Now, the family is mourning an unimaginable tragedy.
Perry’s husband, Laddyan, revealed the couple was preparing to celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary next month.
“She was everything to me,” he said through tears.
“She was loving, caring, she would do everything for me.”
He added that simply seeing her belongings around their home now causes him to “break down.”
Friends and loved ones have since flooded social media with tributes remembering Perry as the heart of the family and one of the loudest supporters at her nephews’ football games.
Authorities are continuing to investigate the deadly crash.
