DURHAM (WTVD) -- A memorial of candles and flowers surround photos of a Durham man who worked to keep those at Oakley Square Apartments safe, and they mark the very spot where he was murdered.
To outsiders, he was 52-year-old Fred Edgerton, but to those who knew and loved him, he was simply "Mr. Fred."
"He pretty much took care of me. He was a good man," said Kenny Peterson, one of Edgerton's tenants.
Edgerton was the apartment manager hired to beef up security. He had been in the Marines and worked hard to keep kids out of trouble. He tutored them after school, organized summer camps, and even repaired the complex's playground with his own money.
"Fred was a paramount leader in the community, he definitely believed in second chances, third chances and fourth chances, he definitely believed in his community," said Umar Muhammad, who knew Edgerton.
Monday morning, the very trouble Edgerton tried so hard to keep away from this community, pushed its way right in. He was gunned down in the parking lot. Durham police responded to the call of the shooting just after 8:40 a.m. They found Edgerton already dead.
On Thursday, police arrested 21-year-old Shatique Skinner and charged him with Edgerton's murder. They arrested him in the 600 block of Mimosa Street, just a half-mile from the crime scene. It is also just a half-mile from where Edgerton's goddaughter organized a march in his name.
"I really have no words of how many phone calls I've gotten and how many lives I'm still learning he touched," said Miriam Liles, Edgerton's goddaughter.
Dozens gathered at Sherwood Park to hold hands, pray, and march to the very spot Edgerton was killed. They did it as a show of solidarity in a mission to keep Mr. Fred's legacy of community alive.
According to investigators, the shooting was not a random act, but they have not released the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
Meanwhile, anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Investigator M. Evans at (919) 560-4440, ext. 29336 or Durham CrimeStoppers at (919) 683-1200.