Fan who fell to his death at Turner Field was a lifelong Atlanta Braves fan, his family says

From the sound of things, Monday night didn't begin as anything atypical for Ronald Lee Homer Jr., a 30-year-old Atlanta Braves fan who lived in nearby Conyers, Ga, and worked as a landscaper.

Homer attended three or four games per month, according to an Associated Press report, and at Monday's game against the Phillies at Turner Field, the most unusual thing was a nearly two-hour rain delay.



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When the rain stopped and field was almost ready for first pitch, Homer called his mother, Connie, for a brief chat before saying he was heading to his seat.

"He said 'I love you mom, and I said 'I love you too' and that was it," Connie Homer said in an interview on Tuesday morning.

We still don't know what happened next — how Connie Homer went from hearing "I love you, mom" to hearing "he's gone" when the hospital called later that evening.

This much is sadly certain: Ronald Homer fell 65 feet from an upper-level platform at Turner Field onto the player's parking lot outside the stadium. He was rushed to Atlanta Medical Center where first reports said he was in critical condition. He was pronounced dead a couple hours later.

Atlanta Police surveyed the situation from Monday night, when the fall was originally reported, until early Tuesday morning and have said it looks to be accidental with no indications of foul play. Neither police nor the Braves have been able to give any more details about the circumstances leading to Homer's fall.

This marks the third time an Atlanta-area sports fan fell this year at a game, and the second fan to die from a fall at a Braves game in the past five years. Two fans fell last season during college football games at the Georgia Dome. Neither died. In 2008, a Braves fan fell down a stairwell and died after sustaining head injuries. Alcohol was a factor in that incident.

As for Ronald Homer Jr., there's an autopsy planned for Tuesday. That might give police, the Braves — and most importantly, the Homer family — some answers.

He was a real homer.