Georgia Mom ‘Fighting’ for Answers After Son’s Dead Body Found in Car (Exclusive)

• Since her son Malachi Mitchell was found dead in a car in January outside Atlanta, Kenya Mitchell has been seeking answers
• Douglas County authorities say they know who shot Malachi and what led up to the killing, but they haven’t made any arrests or publicly identified the other man involved
• “Where’s the law?” Kenya says

Kenya Mitchell takes long walks, talking to God and her son Malachi Mitchell as she tries to make sense of the killing of her eldest child, who was found dead in the passenger seat of a car that was pulled over outside Atlanta in late January.

Since then, Kenya, a mom of five, says she’s gotten few answers from authorities who say they know who killed 21-year-old Malachi and how it happened — but haven’t pursued charges or ruled out a crime and have sought to keep the shooter’s name from becoming public, citing gang fears.

The homicide investigation is stirring controversy, given how little information has been released to the public so far.

“Where’s the justice, where’s the law?” a distraught Kenya, 38, of Douglasville, Ga., tells PEOPLE. “He admitted he shot my son. And they let him go.”

Her account of what happened the night her son died is largely supported by a statement issued by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office on Feb. 3 and subsequent comments by Lt. Col Tavarreus Pounds, one of the investigators.

On Jan. 29, sheriff’s deputies pulled a vehicle over near Interstate 20, in the Atlanta area, and discovered Malachi’s body inside. 

In an unusual twist, the driver — revealed to be the shooter — was questioned and then “released pending the outcome of the ongoing investigation,” according to the sheriff’s office’s initial statement. 

“We want to assure the public that every aspect of this case is being thoroughly examined,” Pounds said in a later video statement on Feb. 6, one day before Malachi’s mom filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the young man whom she claims is responsible for killing Malachi. 

While he acknowledged “there’s been a lot of concern and speculation about how we’re dealing with this case,” Pounds maintained that “our investigators are following the evidence wherever it leads and we will not rush to judgment or make an arrest based on media coverage, public pressure or outside influence.”

Malachi’s mom says she has been stonewalled by the department, resulting in her filing a suit on Feb. 7 that publicly accuses a 20-year-old man of killing Malachi. 

PEOPLE is not naming the defendant in the civil suit in light of what law enforcement called the risk of violence around the case: Relatives of the person they say shot Malachi have been threatened by members of “a local criminal street gang.”

Malachi’s family says Malachi wasn’t in a gang and records reviewed by PEOPLE show he had no criminal history as an adult.

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PEOPLE’s efforts to reach the man named in the lawsuit for comment have not been successful, and the Mitchell family’s attorney says they also haven’t been able to serve him with the suit. They believe he fled to Ohio from Georgia.

“This family is grieving the death of a loved one who was doing something lawful and you’re protecting someone doing something unlawful that resulted in the finality of the life of Malachi,” says the Mitchells’ attorney, Marsha Mignott. “It’s mind-boggling to see how Douglas County … is handling this matter.”

What happened that night?

The sheriff’s office isn’t releasing the incident report, and neither they nor prosecutors responded to repeated requests for further comment for this story. 

Kenya Mitchell tells PEOPLE that  Malachi left home the night of Jan. 29 for a private gun sale with the other man named in her lawsuit, after exchanging a series of texts with him.

(In Georgia, there is no waiting period for firearm purchases and handgun registration is not required. Private sales of firearms between individuals are legal and do not require background checks.)

The two young men were familiar with each other, according to Malachi’s family. After graduating from a local high school, he earned a degree from West Georgia Technical College and traveled around the country installing internet wiring in hotels.

“He just came home from Lake Tahoe. He was a kind man, very ambitious, a great big brother and a man of God,” Kenya says. “He loved sports and had no issues in school.”

With tears running down her face, Kenya says that Malachi, which means “messenger,” was a loving older sibling to his younger twin brothers and two younger sisters. 

“We are not doing well,” Kenya says.

On that night in January, Malachi, who celebrated his birthday in December, left the house where he grew up and, at some point after the gun sale was finished, according to Lt. Col. Pounds with the sheriff’s office, a struggle took place between him and the other man “over the control of the purchased firearm.”

The other man drew a second gun he had brought with him and shot Malachi. Then he drove off with the body before being stopped by deputies.

Pounds, in his video statement last month, said that before being stopped the shooter was “in contact” with someone else — “expressing fear that he had been set up and that he was being followed.”

Investigators have provided no other information about this and have somewhat defended the shooter’s actions.

“Based on the witness and statement, the driver was clearly in a state of panic [and] uncertainty … seeking rational advice from someone he was dealing with during this traumatic experience,” Pounds said.

But Malachi’s family, who held a memorial for him in late February, say they have more questions than answers.

“Something’s not right. It doesn’t make sense,” his mom says. “He [the shooter] had control of the car. He had two guns.”

Pounds said in February that once the investigation is complete, the case will be submitted to the Douglas County district attorney for review.

For now, a heartbroken Kenya Mitchell says she is left with only memories of her son: how he loved his mango smoothies in the morning with his bagel and cream cheese. And how she will no longer be greeted by his big smile.

“Fighting for justice for Malachi is helping me,” she says. “I want to honor his name.”