DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A mother is speaking to Channel 2 Action News about the abduction and murder of her pregnant daughter and her fiancé. It happened in 2014 but the suspects have not yet gone to trial.
Briana Brooks lived long enough to deliver her baby girl by C-section as Sadria Strong lost her daughter and began to raise a third grandchild.
“I got her. The true essence of her in them,” Strong said.
Each day she promises Briana that she'll take care of them and walk for her on a journey to justice.
“I made it clear, I don't want to be here next year, still waiting,” Strong said.
Strong has been searching for answers from the Fulton County District Attorney's Office. She wants a capital murder trial date for the two men charged in her daughter’s brutal killing.
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“They explained to me they had a case that took nine years, but I said at that point that's not acceptable to me,” Strong said.
A then-7 months pregnant Brooks and her fiancé Jeronta Brown were kidnapped, handcuffed and shot to death in August of 2014.
Andre Gay and Richard Wilson were charged in the ransom-style murder. Authorities announced they would seek the death penalty.
Channel 2 Action News discovered Gay wasn't properly monitored by the state parole board -- he was released 8 months before the Brooks/Brown murder after serving part of a life sentence for committing the same crime 20 years earlier, killing a woman and 17-month-old child. Wilson had a violent criminal past, too.
“And from the minute they were let out they continuously committed crimes and my child was the last victim and that could have been prevented,” Strong said.
Strong said her case has switched prosecutor's hands as one left Fulton for DeKalb County and very little guidance has been given on a case timeline.
“I'm doing my part. I've been patient. I've been patient up until this point. But it gets to a point where I'm no longer patient,” Strong said.
This week, the Fulton County's office told Channel 2’s Nicole Carr they've scheduled a status hearing for this capital murder case. They said they're hoping it will lead to a motions hearing, after which a trial date can be scheduled
In addition to Gay's and Wilson's case, the Fulton County D.A. has four other capital murder cases in pre-trial status.
Cox Media Group
