During opening statements of the trial of Miles Bryant, an ex-cop accused of the kidnap and murder of 16-year-old Susana Morales, Bryant’s attorney Tracy Drake called her client “cold” and “callous.”
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She even warned that the jury would not like him.
“Hold him [Bryant] guilty for the death of Susana Morales,” Drake told the jury.
And that’s just what the jury did after only six hours of deliberation: A Gwinnett County, Georgia jury found Bryant, 23, guilty of malice murder, felony murder, kidnapping and false report of a crime. He was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
According to a Gwinnett County news release, after texting her family that she was on her way home from a friend’s house, Morales was never heard from again. It wasn’t until seven months later that her remains were found.
The Life 360 app installed on Morales’ phone was marked as key evidence pinpointing her last known location. Bryant’s own cell phone records helped tie him to the site where Morales was later found, according to Atlanta’s WSB-TV.
Bryant admitted to dumping Morales’ body in the woods, but the exact cause of death was never determined. A gun registered to Bryant was also found at the scene. The sentencing came almost two years after her original disappearance.
The trial, which began on June 3, was full of testimonies from Morales’ friends and family.
“She was really uplifting. She was nice to everybody. She was a really loving person,” Morales’ boyfriend said during his testimony.
During the trial, Police Officer Xavier Biggers, who worked closely to find Morales, also took the stand and became emotional as he spoke about how “obsessed” he became with finding the young girl.
“I have a daughter the same age,” Biggers told the court. “It really touched me that I thought it was my duty to try to find her.”
Bryant’s lawyers filed a motion for a new trial.
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