GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — The family and friends of a victim kidnapped and raped during a brutal attack say she will not get justice because of a mistake by the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s office.
Prosecutors admit they failed to respond to a request to transfer the suspect back to Georgia and give him a speedy trial.
Jokisha Brown escaped her ex-boyfriend Alfredo Capote by jumping from a moving car to get help in April 2016.
He was then charged and indicted on multiple felony charges including kidnapping, rape and armed robbery.
Capote went on the run.
Three months later, on July 1, a day before her 36th birthday, Brown was shot and killed outside a salon in northeast Atlanta.
Police called Capote a “person of interest” in her murder.
After a year-long nationwide manhunt, he was finally captured in Louisiana and convicted of financial crimes.
He is currently serving a sentence in federal prison but is set to be released in June.
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Family members and a close friend of Brown who didn’t want to be identified told Channel 2′s Steve Gehlbach that they have yet to get justice.
“They’re devastated and haven’t been able to heal from losing her… she was so beautiful, loved everybody, she was so giving,” Brown’s family said.
Brown’s family says they were contacted by the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s office last week and told they would likely be unable to take Capote to trial.
“Gwinnett dropped the ball all the way around,” said Brown’s friend. “We just wanted that day in court to seek justice for Kisha and Gwinnett County was the next step.”
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When contacted, District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said she was just briefed on the case after Gehlbach started asking questions.
In a statement emailed to Channel 2 Action News, Austin-Gatson said, “The paperwork cannot be located, and we deeply regret and apologize to the family of the victim.”
Capote’s attorney filed a motion to dismiss the case and all charges due to failure to prosecute.
Under the law, paperwork filed and received by the D.A. of Gwinnett in July 2021 had to be responded to within 180 days.
That deadline passed the last week of January.
Now a judge will hear the motion to dismiss the charges in March.
“The failure to act upon the Interstate Detainer places our ability to prosecute the case in Gwinnett in jeopardy for the victims,” Austin-Gatson said in her statement. “The family deserves justice, and this unfortunate situation does not properly reflect our commitment to pursue and prosecute cases as we are charged. This administration takes responsibility and we have put in place safeguards to prevent such an occurrence in the future.”
The homicide investigation by Atlanta police is still open and Capote has never been charged or named a suspect in Brown’s murder.
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