It took a Fulton County jury a little over three hours to convict a 22-year-old of robbing and fatally shooting a wedding guest four years ago outside an Atlanta country club.
Jayden Myrick was found guilty Thursday of murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault and 13 other counts for the July 2018 killing of Christian Broder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Broder, a 34-year-old husband and new father, managed a restaurant in Washington D.C. and was in town for the wedding.
Inside the courtroom, his family members were visibly relieved as Judge Rachelle Carnesale read the jury’s verdict aloud. Broder’s three younger siblings choked back tears as they gave their victim impact statements while holding their brother’s ashes.
“When Christian died, everything changed,” said his sister, Caroline Broder. “We’re haunted by the trauma of this horrific crime.”
She described her brother as funny and kind, someone who adored his family and his friends. A sommelier by trade, she said her brother had an affinity for good wine, good coffee and that he perfected the dad joke long before ever becoming a father. Her brother was survived by his wife and baby daughter, along with other relatives.
Caroline Broder called the robbery senseless, telling Myrick he “stole so much more than a couple of iPhones and a handful of cash” that night.
Credit: Fulton County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Fulton County Sheriff's Office
Prosecutor Chris Sperry pushed for the maximum sentence, telling the judge Myrick showed no remorse and tried intimidating several people to keep them from speaking with investigators.
“He put hits out on a 14 and a 15-year-old to try and save his own skin,” Sperry said.
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
Myrick, who spent hours on the stand this week as the defense’s lone witness, admitted to being a longtime gang member but denied killing Broder.
He maintained his innocence even after the jury convicted him. Given a chance to address Broder’s family at sentencing, Myrick said only that he hoped they find the people responsible.
Sperry said rather than owning up to his actions, Myrick used the opportunity to “spit in the face” of Broder’s family one last time.
Myrick’s comment didn’t sit well with the judge, who said he displayed a “dehumanizing attitude” toward his victims, their families and even his own co-defendants throughout the case.
She referenced the surveillance video of Myrick and his friends walking into a Walmart for snacks and sodas hours after the deadly shooting.
“Everyone in that group looked happy, relaxed, like they were enjoying an evening with the boys,” Carnesale said. “No one would guess someone had just been killed.”
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
Myrick’s attorney, Overton Thierry, asked the judge for leniency. He detailed his client’s troubled past and said that given the chance, he might be able to make something of his life one day.
“Everybody is redeemable at some point,” he said. “He is 22 years old, Your Honor. We just ask the court to consider what he’s been through from a young age and his experiences of growing up around basically criminal elements.”
Carnesale said she was aware of Myrick’s tragic upbringing but that his actions showed he isn’t interested in rehabilitation.
Broder was standing with his brother and two friends, waiting for an Uber outside the Capital City Country Club on July 8, 2018, when Myrick and three other teenagers drove up in a stolen Dodge Charger, authorities said.
Myrick, who was 17 at the time, got out with a 9mm pistol and demanded the group’s cellphones, wallets and purses, witnesses testified at trial. As Myrick left, he fired a single shot that struck Broder in the stomach.
Also sentenced Thursday was fellow defendant Torrus Fleetwood, 24, who allegedly drove the car the night of the shooting. He recently entered an Alford plea to charges of armed robbery, voluntary manslaughter and participating in a criminal street gang. An Alford plea is when defendants do not admit to guilt but acknowledge it’s in their best interest to enter such a plea.
Fleetwood was sentenced to 30 years in prison under the deal, but could be eligible for parole sooner.
While the sentences may have brought some relief to Broder’s family, his parents said the pain of losing their first child was “crippling and immeasurable.”
“He was the most kind and loving person in the world,” his mother, Sue Broder, said in court. “We will live with this pain for the rest of our lives.”
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