Tyler Perry steps in to help family of woman killed in bank shooting

NORTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Family members who lost their mother in a shooting at a Georgia bank are getting help from mogul Tyler Perry.

Police said Tynesha Evans' boyfriend killed her at a bank in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Evans had fallen on hard times. Her daughters told WSB that the suspect, Othniel Inniss, asked her to meet him at the bank so he could get her money to help cover her rent; instead, police said he shot her.

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"She can't kiss me. She can't tell me to wake up in the morning after I missed my alarm. She can't. She's not here," said Evans' daughter, Sakemia Turner.

After hearing the family's heartbreaking story, Perry contacted the family and offered to help.

"It was a call I wasn't even going to answer. I said, 'Well, let me answer it to see who it is.' I answered, and the person on the other end said, 'This is Tyler.' I said, 'Who?' He said, 'This is Tyler.' I said, 'Tyler who?' and he said, 'Tyler Perry.' At that point, I just broke down crying," said Evans' daughter, Audrey Turner.

Perry offered to fly their mother's body back to her home state of Wisconsin, where family and friends will hold her funeral.

He's also promised to take care of tuition for Sharadiant Turner, who is a freshman at Spelman College in Atlanta.

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"I'm going to do what she wanted me to do. She started me on math, and now I'm going to get to graduate with a mathematics degree from Spelman College without debt. It means everything," Sharadiant Turner said.

The family, while still in pain, is finding some peace thanks to an incredible act of kindness that these grieving siblings say they'll never forget.

"This amazing. We can't thank him enough," Sharadiant Turner said.

Before Perry contacted the family, WSB-TV learned the family was worried they could lose their home. According to Evans' daughters, the matriarch owed $3,200 and their apartment planned to evict them.

"When we lose where we lay our head, we lose memories of her. Every time I walk into the kitchen, I see my mom cooking, dancing and singing and, if you remove me from there, I'm not gonna have that memory," Shakemia Turner said.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family. More than $45,000 has been raised toward its $50,000 goal.

Inniss, 58, was arrested at the scene of the shooting Saturday. He has been charged with murder and aggravated assault with a firearm.

Cox Media Group