A Georgia mother was strangled to death and then burned to death by her boyfriend in Tennessee on March 17 after she confronted him about secretly marrying another woman in January, investigators said this week. Announced.
Clayton County Police announced at a press conference Monday that Michelle Edwards, 23, has been charged with murder in the death of Brianna Winston. Edwards’ wife, Brianna Phillips Edwards, his 18-year-old brother, Kaylan Wright, and his mother, Ebony Anderson, also face criminal charges in the disappearance, authorities said.
Investigators believe Winston suffocated to death in the early morning hours of March 17 at her College Park apartment during an argument with Edwards, the father of her 4-year-old child, over an alleged affair.
Edwards then stuffed her body into a suitcase and drove 430 miles away with his wife to a friend’s house in Gates, Tennessee, where the friend helped Edwards burn the body in a barrel. Ta. Lt. Gov. Ashanti Marbury said. on monday.
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Brianna Winston, 23, was allegedly strangled by Michelle Edwards, the father of her 4-year-old son. (Fox 5 Atlanta)
Investigators say the friend later told police, under condition of immunity, that he and Edwards had disposed of the woman’s body at two different locations.
Edwards was arrested on April 8 on an unrelated charge of aggravated stalking. Marbury said that when he learned in prison that he was a suspect in Winston’s murder, he enlisted the help of his relatives to cover his tracks.
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Michelle Edwards and wife Brianna Phillips Edwards (Fox 5 Atlanta)
“It became a family affair,” Marbury said. “He definitely implicated everyone in this crime.”
He was caught asking his wife to burn the shoes and gloves he used when destroying his girlfriend’s body. Phillips-Edwards faces several charges, including being an accessory to a criminal homicide. Fox 5 Atlanta reported.
Meanwhile, Phillips-Edwards asked Edwards’ mother and brother to help burn the evidence, authorities said at a news conference. Both men are currently facing conspiracy charges.
Winston was reported missing on April 1st, after her family learned she had stopped showing up for work on March 17th and later found her apartment completely empty. A family member told Fox 5 Atlanta there was a smell of bleach in the apartment.
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Winston, pictured, was reported missing on April 1st, and Clayton County police announced on April 26th that they were investigating her disappearance as a homicide. (Fox 5 Atlanta)
The Clayton County Sheriff’s Office felt they had enough information to determine that Winston died on April 26, and in a press release said she was a “victim of a crime who was somehow incapacitated.” “All the evidence points to it,” he said. she is dead. ”
Winston’s family was also present at the press conference, and although they did not speak on camera, they told Fox 5 Atlanta that they were grateful to know what happened.
Mr Winston’s grandmother, Ann Thomas, previously told the station: “I cannot understand how something like this could happen to a beautiful young woman who is trying to do everything on her own.” She said: “She was really sweet, loving, sweet, really caring and she loved her baby to death.”
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Jasmine Walker, Winston’s cousin, said: atlanta news first The past few months have been difficult for the family.
“I cried every night because I wasn’t there to help her,” Walker told the outlet. “I will not sleep until she is found and I will not give up until justice is served for her.”
