Two women found dead an hour apart in different parks an in Atlanta

 

2 women were found murdered, hours apart, in Atlanta parks. (L)Katherine Janness' dog was also killed. The knife attack was so horrific the family was not allowed to id the body. The other woman, Tori Lang(R) was found shot in a separate parks.

Two women found dead  hours apart in different parks an in Atlanta

Killers have not been identified and are still on the loose

By Edward Era Barbacena

A woman and her dog were brutally stabbed to death early Wednesday at Atlanta’s Piedmont Park in what police described as a “gruesome” scene. Another woman found fatally shot at Yellow river park, the two murders was just an hour apart.  Piedmont park is 21miles from the Yellow River park and it will only take 31 minute drive from one park to the other.

Katherine Janness, 40, was found dead at Piedmont park around 1 a.m., along with her slain dog Bowie. Police said that Janness had been stabbed multiple times. Tori lang on the hand was found fatally shot under a tree in Yellow River park

Police released her identity Thursday, after Lang's distinct tattoos helped identify her.

Janess’ partner of seven years Emma Clark said that Janness went to walk Bowie after dinner but never returned, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. When she didn't come home, Clark tracked her phone's location and went to the park, where she discovered her girlfriend dead. 

 In the case of Lang, Police in Gwinnett County said they have identified the person officers found shot and killed under a tree at Yellow River Park after receiving a call about a medical situation.

Officers responded to the park around 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 28, police said, and found the woman "deceased from apparent gunshot wounds." 

On Thursday police identified the person as Tori Lang, 18.

As of Wednesday, she had not been identified and the Gwinnett County Police Department was hoping the public could help point them in the right direction.

Tori Lang

Police described her as a light-skinned Black woman believed to be between the ages of 20-35. They said she had three identifiable tattoos - one a heart cross tattoo with the date of 8-16-07 on it-- pink or reddish in color on the right side of her neck, another on the left side of her neck that says "faith makes all possible" and what appears to be roman lettering with the date 9-16-2002 on her wrist. 

Alyssa Babbage and Juwan Davis, two of Lang's friends, said the second they saw photos of the tattoos circulating online, their hearts broke.

"I saw a post with pictures of her tattoos and I just knew right off the bat that it was her," said Babbage. "I know her tattoos. She used to talk to me about them saying, 'I have this one, I'm about to get this one.'"…

"The one on her neck, behind her neck, that was the one that really stood out," Davis said.

But what really stood out, they tell 11Alive, was her personality and love for her family. Both friends said she was funny and a go-getter. 

Babbage said Lang was an only child who graduated high school with her just last year. She adds that Lang was thinking of enrolling in an online college and that the ambitious teenager at one point had three jobs.

"She was very caring to anybody," she added. "She was willing to give. If she had it and you needed it, no matter if she knew you or not, she was going to give it to you if she had it. I just know how much her parents and family in general meant to her."

Babbage said the last time she saw her friend, who she's known since middle school, was Saturday, when Lang asked if Babbage could braid her hair.

She never imagined that'd be the last time talking to her.

"I was in shock because it's sad," she added. "She was very young and she was a very good person. Really, she really was. I'm going to miss her a lot. I haven't really grasped the fact that she's not going to be here, but she's going to be here."

Yellow River park where Tori Lang was found fatally shot

Neither friend knows why Lang would be in the Gwinnett County park, and they send their condolences to the family.

"She was a cool, loving person, she didn't bother anybody. That's crazy. One day you're here, the next one you're gone," said Davis, who was in high school with the teenager.

Police said the motive is still unknown and there are currently no immediate suspects. 

Back to Janess, the FBI confirmed with ABC News it is now joining the Atlanta Police Department’s investigation into her death, So far, no arrests have been made in the case.

Katherine Janness, 40, was found dead at Piedmont park around 1 a.m., along with her slain dog Bowie.

Janness, a bartender at Campagnolo restaurant in Midtown, was found by her wife just inside the 10th Street gate of Piedmont Park just after 1 a.m. on Wednesday. Investigators said Janness’ longtime girlfriend discovered her body in the park after pinging her phone when she did not return from walking Bowie.

According to Atlanta Police, Janness was stabbed multiple times in what Deputy Chief Charles Hampton described to the media as a “gruesome” attack. APD has added extra patrols around the park in response to the incident.

The Atlanta Police Department will conduct a “tactical canvass” of Piedmont Park on Saturday afternoon for clues in the brutal stabbing death of Katherine Janness and her dog.

Police continue to appeal to the public for help in finding who stabbed Janness, 40, as she walked her dog, Bowie, in the park in the early morning hours of  July 28. A $10,000 reward for information is still on offer.

Police have shared a surveillance image showing Janness crossing a street near the park before she was found dead.

On Thursday more than 100 people attended a vigil for Janness at the park, where her partner’s father described the killer as a “monster.”

A memorial for Katherine Janness and her dog Bowie begins to form at Piedmont Park in Atlanta, July 28, 2021. Janness, 40, was found dead in Piedmont Park around 1 a.m. Wednesday, police said. Her dog had also been killed.

“What they did to her is ridiculous. There is a monster on the loose in the city of Atlanta,” Joe Clark said according to ABC Atlanta affiliate WSB-TV.

“It’s a gruesome scene,” deputy police Chief Charles Hampton said to the outlet on the murder.

Police have since added five mounted patrol units to the park, a popular area for locals and dog walkers. Police have combed the area this week and divers went in and out of the lake for hours Wednesday searching for potential evidence.

A $10,000 reward is being offered for information that could help lead to an arrest.