After hearing about what prosecutors called a “long series of deviant behavior” by a former Doraville police officer accused of kidnapping and killing a 16-year-old last year, a Gwinnett County Superior Court judge on Monday decided he is a risk to the community and denied his bond.
Miles Bryant, 22, was arrested Feb. 13 and fired from the Doraville Police Department the same day. He faces four charges in the disappearance and death of Susana Morales, who vanished the night of July 26 while walking home from a friend’s house in the Norcross area.
Bryant pleaded not guilty Monday to malice murder, felony murder, kidnapping and false report of a crime.
Credit: Rosana Hughes / Rosana.Hughes@ajc.com
Credit: Rosana Hughes / Rosana.Hughes@ajc.com
Bryant has been held at the Gwinnett jail in solitary confinement due to his former status as a police officer and has asked to be released on house arrest while he prepares for trial.
During the bond hearing, prosecutors laid out additional details of the events of that July night and Bryant’s alleged subsequent actions, as well as past behavior that was uncovered during the investigation.
“Judge, this defendant utilized his badge and his place of authority to commit felonies — numerous,” Deputy Chief District Attorney Brandon Delfunt said. “Unauthorized access of multiple women’s accounts, breaking into their homes, a pattern of felonious behavior that is sexually deviant and deviantly motivated since 2018.”
Bryant’s defense attorney, Tracy Drake, could not rebut the state’s allegations due to not yet receiving discovery materials, but she reminded the court that the allegations are the prosecution’s theory and not absolute truth.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
According to Delfunt, Morales’ phone had an app that tracked her location, and it showed her walking east along Singleton Road toward her home shortly after 10 p.m. A security camera at a business on the same road captured her walking, but a few moments later the app suddenly showed her moving in the opposite direction at approximately 40 mph, indicating she had gotten into a vehicle.
Nearly seven months later, her skeletal remains were found more than 20 miles from where she was last seen, though police believe Morales was likely already dead by the time her family reported her missing the morning after she disappeared. A cause of death has not been determined.
Bryant became a suspect when investigators found his personal gun in the area where Morales’ body was found. He had reported it missing the morning after she disappeared, telling police it had been stolen from his Ford F-150 and “specifically asked that the detectives not be involved in trying to locate and recover his firearm,” Delfunt said.
Cellphone records showed Bryant was in the area where Morales’ body was found around 1:40 a.m. July 27 and made two calls to his then-girlfriend, prosecutors said. Bryant told investigators he’d been out for a drive after an argument with his girlfriend and it was just a coincidence he was in the same area.
One of the more brazen acts he is alleged to have committed was to call Morales’ sister with a blocked phone number shortly after the disappearance to ask what police knew, Delfunt said.
Delfunt added that a download of Bryant’s phone data showed he allegedly searched for “how long does it take a body to decompose.”
It also revealed he had allegedly been monitoring his girlfriend through hidden cameras in his home. And text conversations between the couple showed that she found “a stash of women’s underwear” there. When she confronted him, he said they were evidence in a case, that he had misplaced them and thanked her for finding them, authorities said.
Between 2018 and 2022, Bryant is accused of breaking into or attempting to break into four high school classmates’ homes, stealing underwear from one of them, Delfunt said. A search of his department-issued computer showed he unlawfully used the Georgia Crime Information Center, a felony, to track down information about one victim.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
“This defendant utilized his badge, his place of authority, in order to access women’s information,” Delfunt told the judge. “He is a danger to women in this community. He has not upheld the oath that he took to protect and serve both citizens of Doraville and the state of Georgia.”
Judge Tamela Adkins ultimately denied Bryant’s request for bond, stating, “I find that you are a risk to the community and at risk to commit additional felonies.”
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