In the ‘80s, Camelot Condominiums in South Fulton used to be viewed as coveted living quarters for pilots, flight attendants, and other professionals. When Camelot homeowner Condia Perry first moved to the complex in 2012, an older homeowner—who claimed to be the half-brother of blues singer Johnnie Taylor—told her stories about other upper class and celebrity residents, including Atlanta Hawks players.
Someone else told Perry about a party they’d been invited to at Camelot: “Once they got into the unit, they looked up and saw Rick James. And they said, At that moment, I knew that Camelot was the shit. That was their exact words. And that’s what I heard Camelot was like in the early 1980s.”
Since 2019, 15 homicides have occurred in Camelot Condominiums. For most of 2022, Mayor Kobi lived in Camelot to better understand the problems at the complex. In that time frame, one woman was murdered and at least one other person was found dead. Kobi moved out because of a black mold infestation in the basement of his building, which shared the same HVAC system as his unit.
In summer 2022 Perry hosted her six-year-old niece, who would hear gunshots in the complex and cry.
“She looked at me, her eyes big, scared and she ran to me,” Perry says. “She had never heard gunfire. I’m supposed to have her down here to keep her safe, and at that moment, I’m sure she didn’t [feel safe].”
Perry’s niece went from being disturbed by the gunfire to being numb to it.
“After about two weeks, she’d be able to eat her food and still watch TV and not even blink an eye,” Perry says, “because it was just happening that often.”
In 2023, two HOA board members were charged with theft after $1.5 million of insurance money was not properly paid out to residents affected by a building fire. Perry says the board has also mismanaged safety priorities for the complex: “We’ve had board members that have refused to turn over our books so that we can get grant money. They refuse to do what South Fulton police have asked them to do so that they can help protect us and add more security.”
Keith Meadows, a 30-year Atlanta Police Department veteran, became South Fulton’s first chief of police one year after South Fulton became a city in 2017. Immediately, tackling crime on Old National became a top issue for him and his department. When Meadows was appointed, 47 percent of crime on Old National Highway was what South Fulton police calls “Part 1” crimes, which includes murder, rape, and assault, according to police spokesperson Tori Cooper.
“If people don’t feel safe along the Old National corridor, then nobody’s going to invest in it,” Meadows says.
