By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Loud with a kind heart: Slain Flowery Branch man remembered for inspiring community
Bledson's family offers $5,000 reward for information on Aug. 6 shooting
0828BLEDSON 0001
Corey Richardson cuts Harold Key’s hair Saturday at Rain Hair Boutique and Barber Shop in Gainesville. Richardson worked with Ricko Bledson, who was found shot Aug. 6 outside of his Flowery Branch house, and Key knew Bledson for several years. - photo by Erin O. Smith
When Wilson Riddles and other customers come down to Rain Hair Boutique and Barber Shop on E.E. Butler Parkway in Gainesville, the big smile of Ricko Bledson is missing. Bledson, 39, who friends say raised his voice to inspire the community around him, was shot and killed Aug. 6 at his Chinook Court home off Jim Crow Road in South Hall County. “It’s hard to come in here now,” said barber Corey Richardson, who called Bledson “one of the greatest people I’ve ever been around.”