On Monday, Eyewitness News heard from the family of the woman allegedly murdered by her husband. Investigators are now on their way from Georgia to Chicago to deal with the Felton's extradition.
It was last Friday when Sheray Felton's family decided it was time to fly down from Chicago to Georgia to check up on her.
"From my mom's perspective, every time she would speak to him and try to get Sheray to the phone, he would say she was sick, and they were calling her cell phone and she wasn't picking up, and that wasn't like her," said Dolores Mays, victim's sister.
A mother of one and one of five siblings, her sister says Sheray moved to the suburbs of Atlanta last fall to pursue her Ph.D., but her troubled marriage to Felton followed her there as well.
"She was a wonderful human being, she was loved by so many people. It's a horrible thing that this has happened to her, but you don't question God, you know, you just go through it," said Mays.
Before the police chase that ended with an eight-hour standoff on Lake Shore Drive Sunday, and before Georgia officials say Joseph Felton killed his wife last week, the 43-year-old had a history of domestic abuse incidents against her. The most recent took place January 1. The charges stemming from that were dismissed just this past Thursday, when according to the Henry County District Attorney, Felton's wife failed to show up to testify before a grand jury.
Felton is in now in custody, but still hospitalized, suffering from what his sister says are self-inflicted wounds.
"My brother does have a long history of mental illness. He's been on anti-depressants and other types of medication that has been prescribed for him for the last 13 years," said Lastella Felton, suspect's sister.
And while she doesn't question her brother's alleged crimes, Lastella says, even Sunday, as she spoke to her brother over the phone to convince him to turn himself in, all he could do was talk about his wife.
"It's a shock to the family, and me and my sisters would like to extend our condolences to Sheray and her family. We know it's a difficult time and we know justice must be served," said Lastella Felton.
In addition to the domestic violence charges filed against him in Georgia, the Will County State's Attorney tells Eyewitness News that Sheray filed two civil orders of protection against her husband between 2011 and 2013, and also pressed domestic violence charges against him in 2013, but all of those cases were dismissed when she failed to testify against him.
