ATLANTA — Those who knew Christopher Edwards Jr. and his sister Erin Edwards say the siblings were a gift to the world.

Christopher Jr., 24, was funny and witty, a hard worker, who believed achieving goals should not come at the expense of being kind to others.

Erin, 20, driven to succeed, shared her infectious enthusiasm and boundless optimism with friends, assuring them in tough times, "Sometimes God closes the doors that you're not supposed to go through, but you're one step closer to where you're supposed to be.”

Their mother, Marsha Edwards, an accomplished businesswoman and former wife of prominent local surgeon Dr. Christopher Edwards, raised her two children with love, and doted on them and their many accomplishments, friends and relatives say.

The 58-year-old shared dozens of photos to Facebook of an early August jaunt to Miami with Christopher Jr. for the National Association of Black Journalists conference, followed by a trip she took with Erin to Italy.

"I've had the best summer, first with Chris in Miami and Erin in Italy. I could not ask for better children," Marsha Edwards wrote in an Aug. 21 Instagram post.

Later that day, she would kill those two grown children in her upscale townhouse, police say, then turn the gun on herself.

The crime has stunned people in this capital of the New South. The family was well-known and active in the Atlanta community and were longtime friends of Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

On Wednesday, hundreds gathered at a memorial service at Cascade United Methodist Church to celebrate their lives. Bottoms eulogized Christopher Jr. as a "breath of fresh air" and a "true gentleman" who was committed to his work. She described Erin, who previously interned at City Hall, as "poised, graceful, confident and eager to contribute."

Both had a passion for journalism. Christopher Jr. was a digital content manager for the Atlanta Mayor's Office of Film and Entertainment. Erin was a rising junior at Boston University and had just finished a summer internship with NBC New York.

Their tragic deaths have left the community baffled. Why would Marsha Edwards want to kill herself and the children she appeared to love dearly? Was she suffering a mental illness? Was there a family dispute?

Police have provided no further details as they continue investigating, leaving many unanswered questions about the apparent murder-suicide. On social media, some say they refuse to believe she would murder her kids.

"As we grieve I would encourage you not to focus on what we don't know but to focus on what we do know," said Marsha’s niece Kamil "Missy" Finister at the memorial service. "This family is the embodiment of love."

From the outside, it appeared Marsha Edwards life was one of success.

She had raised two children with bright futures. She was a surgical and medical equipment distributor for her own company, MME Enterprises, LLC. Active in the community, she was involved with notable civic groups such as the Atlanta Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, and the Camellia Rose Chapter of The Links.

Earlier this year, Women Works Media Group named her one of Atlanta's Most Powerful and Influential Woman of 2019.

Her marriage to Dr. Christopher Edwards ended about five years ago, said family spokesman Jeff Dickerson. Her Linked In profile said it was at that time she ended her role as partner in his medical practice, Atlanta Neurological and Spine Institute.

After their divorce, the couple kept close relationships with their children, family and friends say.

Dickerson told USA TODAY that Dr. Edwards, who is chairman of the Atlanta Housing Authority board and sits on the board of trustees for the Morehouse School of Medicine, had taken a trip to the Caribbean with Christopher Jr. in recent weeks. He had dinner with Erin the night before their bodies were found.

Dickerson said Dr. Edwards asked a relative to call police for a welfare check when he learned that Christopher Jr. didn't show up for work Aug. 21 and he couldn't get in contact with him, his ex-wife or Erin, who was supposed to fly back to Boston that day.

Filicide — the killing of a son or daughter by a parent — is uncommon, but experts say the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the Edwardses are atypical in their own right.

In most cases, young children are the victims. A study published in Forensic Science International in 2014 analyzed filicide cases between 1976 and 2007 and found about 72% of the victims were under the age of 7. Adults children between the ages of 18 and 40 made up about 13% of the victims.

Phillip Resnick, a professor of psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, said in many cases, mothers commit "altruistic filicide" driven by the desire to not leave their child motherless and believing it best they die together.

Another common motive is "spouse revenge," where a parent kills the child to get back at the ex-spouse for infidelity or a child custody dispute. But both types of cases almost always involve young, dependent children, Resnick said.

"This is an unusual situation," he said of the Edwards case.

It is not known if Marsha Edwards suffered from any mental and physical illness. People who are severely depressed or suicidal can mask their pain and create illusions of happiness on social media, said forensic psychiatrist Dr. Park Dietz. Such people are less likely to get help and others may not know they are suffering.

“Don’t trust selfies,” Dietz said. “What people post on social media should not be construed as the true picture of their life.”

While Georgia police maintain that Marsha killed her children, longtime friends say they can't make sense of it. Touching tributes have been shared on social media since last week.

In a widely shared social media post, Johnny G. Anderson, a friend from their days at Southern University and A&M College in Louisiana 40 years ago, described Marsha as loving, nurturing, sweet and giving. She would always bring up her children during their conversations, he said.

"I couldn't then and can't now get my mind nor arms wrapped around this awful tragedy," Anderson said in the Aug. 23 Facebook post. "I am not convinced of what did or didn't happen, all I know is the pain of a vanished friend and her two wonderful children."

Terri Porter, a lifelong friend who spoke at the memorial service, said Marsha was a great mother who beamed with pride over her son and was inseparable from her daughter.

"Marsha was hands down one of the best mothers I knew," Porter said. "Marsha loved her children, family and friends very much."