(January 15, 2010) A woman was found dead at her home inside the gated Bridle Ridge Walk subdivision in Conyers Wednesday afternoon.

Jarmeca Whitehead, 34, was found Wednesday afternoon with "multiple stab wounds."

Her 16-year-old twin daughters reportedly discovered her body at the home where they lived on Appaloosa Way before 4 p.m. after coming home from school. The girls flagged down a deputy who happened to be serving papers in the area.

Conyers Police Chief David Cathcart said there were no signs of a forced entry but would not comment on if anything was taken from the house. He said Whitehead was a single parent and that he did not know if she was in a relationship.

The investigation, carried out by Conyers Police with the help of the Rockdale County Sheriff's Office, was just beginning Wednesday as the sun sank over the horizon. "At this point, there's not a lot of information to disseminate," said Cathcart. The death was described as a homicide.

The victim’s children were in custody of relatives, according to Cathcart.

Nearby, neighbors gathered and expressed shock that such a thing would happen in the relatively new subdivision, which was built around 2005 off of Dogwood Drive.

A recent high school graduate who would only give her name as Ashley said she was shaken. "After this, I feel more unsafe. We see cars come through here all the time... We need cameras. We need something," she said, adding that cars could easily push through the gates.

She said she didn't know the victim's daughters personally but described them as quiet residents who sometimes hung out at the pool and otherwise stayed out of trouble.

Latoya Washington said news of the death was surprising and that nothing like that had happened before in the neighborhood. "You're going to be more cautions, but every place you have to be more cautious now," she said.

Dayrin Mendez, a Rockdale Magnet School senior whose family had moved into the neighborhood in 2005, also echoed the sentiments that the neighborhood was a quiet one. "The worst thing that happened was my mom got her purse robbed. And we heard there was a neighbor who got her window broken." She said she didn't know the family that resided at the house. "You kind of know who lives next to you, but other than that not really. You go about your business. That's pretty much it."

At the subdivision entrance, police checked IDs and searched vehicles before they entered the neighborhood.

An autopsy was completed Thursday but the body had not been released to the family just yet by Thursday evening.

Cathcart said investigators were still talking with friends and family and processing the scene. "We've got a lot of work to do," he said.