Telangana man shot by teen in US was planning trip back home
WASHINGTON/HYDERABAD:A 61-year old man from Telangana’s Medak district was shot dead by a 16-year old boy in Ventnor City of New Jersey in the US in a carjacking incident around 8 pm on Friday.
Law enforcement officers found Sunil Edla on the sidewalk outside his apartment on Nashville Avenue. They were responding to a police call about a man down, Atlantic County prosecutor Damon G Tyner said.
Edla’s vehicle, a 2002 Subaru Forester, was subsequently found by Atlantic City Police Officers in the 1600 block of Sewell Avenue in Atlantic City. The suspect was subsequently held Saturday morning, not far from where the victim’s car was found, he said. An autopsy of the body showed the cause of death to be multiple gunshot wounds.
The prosecutor announced the suspect has been charged with first degree murder, robbery, carjacking, unlawful possession of a handgun, and possessing a handgun for unlawful purpose. He is lodged in a juvenile detention facility. Edla, a father of two and grandfather, had lived in Atlantic County for 30 years and worked in the local hospitality industry. He was leaving for an overnight shift at the North Carolina Avenue Rodeway Inn in Atlantic City when he was shot just outside his apartment building.
Relatives told local media that Edla had started the car and returned into the house for something and was shot dead when he went back, down the stairs.
His cousin Raj Casula said: “He was humble. He never argued. I helped him when he came to US in 1987. I was very close to him.”
Edla had planned to visit India for two months for his mother’s 95th birthday and Christmas. “Everyone was calling him and talking to him because he was leaving for India so soon. He had everything planned out for months… He was leaving on the 27th and he planned everything he was going to do in India for every day.” Another relative in India said, “He made wanted to celebrate Christmas and also 95th birthday of his mother.”
The news of Edla’s death was conveyed to his family members and relatives in Medak on Saturday. “The post-mortem has been completed and the body is expected to be sent to India by Monday,” a relative told the local media in Medak. According to the relatives, Edla, son of Devanandam Edla and Kamalamma — residing on the premises of Medak Church — was a commerce graduate and had done diploma in physical education. He then joined as a physical education teacher in a zilla parishad high school in Machavaram, Andhra Pradesh, where he married his fellow teacher Manjula.
He resigned from his job 30 years ago and moved to the US to settle down as an accountant in Ventnor City. He has two sons – Sajit Dayal and Marrison Dayal and also has a grandson. Sunil was active in the community and was also known for playing piano at churches in Atlantic City.