DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The Dekalb County District Attorney’s office says they do not believe they can prove beyond a reasonable doubt who killed Brandon Veal.
On Aug. 6, 2022, Brandon Veal went to a friend’s house with his girlfriend and her three-year-old son.
According to the initial police report, Veal would say high to his friends but would return to his car with his girlfriend and her son. Seconds later, witnesses say they heard a pop.
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“My heart was ripped out. I felt like I had been stampeded. He would never return,” Allison Woodard, Veal’s mom, told Channel 2 Action News. “My baby is gone, and they killed my child.”
The girlfriend claimed it was her three-year-old child who pulled the trigger. The initial report said the girlfriend claimed her son was sitting in Veal’s lap when he was shot.
However, a coroner’s report found the bullet entered through Veal’s right temple, which indicates the weapon was fired from the passenger side of the car.
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“The coroner report said trajectory [was] right to left,” Woodard told Channel 2′s Michael Doudna.
Police initially arrested the girlfriend for murder. However, the Dekalb County District Attorney’s office told the family they would not pursue charges in the case.
In a statement, Claire Simms Chaffins, Director of Communications with the Dekalb County District Attorney said “Brandon Veal’s death was a tragedy and our thoughts are with his family as they mourn his loss. After [the girlfriend’s arrest, our office completed a thorough investigation into the facts of the case. The only witnesses to the shooting were Mr. Veal, [the girlfriend] and a minor. Despite our best efforts, no witnesses or evidence were found in order to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, which is the standard required by law.”
“Cases like this, where you have one witness and that one witness would also be your defendant, are virtually impossible,” Jessica Cino, an attorney with Krevolin Horst, said.
Cino is not a part of the case but agreed to provide her perspective. She says in cases like this, having another piece of evidence or motive is vital to getting a conviction.
“If the dots don’t connect all the way through, you are going to get an acquittal, or you are going to get a hung jury. And I think that’s probably the decision the da made in this circumstance,” Cino said.
However, the family believes the investigation was not thorough enough.
Channel 2 Action News talked with two witnesses who were there the day of the shooting. They told us off-camera they were only contacted by a police investigator once after the shooting. One witness said when she walked over to the car shortly after she heard the gunfire, the three-year-old was strapped in the back seat.
“I just don’t understand how someone was murdered in a car. Two people in there and no one is held accountable,” Ruby Woodard, Veal’s grandmother said.
" I’m furious, I’m angry, I’m upset, and I want justice for my son. I want justice,” Allison Woodard said.
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