October 28, 2025
On October 24, 2025, in the Superior Court of Coweta County, Brett Tyler Brown, now 40, of Sharpsburg, GA, was found guilty in Coweta County Superior Court Case No. 2023-R-428 of Rape, Aggravated Sexual Battery, Sodomy, Sexual Battery, and other charges. Senior Superior Court Judge Ben Studdard presided over the weeklong trial and sentenced Brown to Life without the possibility of parole, because the DA’s Office filed a notice invoking Georgia’s Recidivist statute, which requires a maximum sentence when a defendant has three prior felony convictions.
Assistant District Attorneys Jessica Williams-Vickery and Jillian Brasfield prosecuted the case, which was investigated by Coweta County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) Investigator Casey Mullis. The evidence presented at trial revealed the following:
Brown had access to the 17-year-old victim through the victim’s mother, with whom Brown was in a relationship. Over a 48-hour period in March 2020, Brown provided the victim alcohol, which he laced with pills, until the victim became incapacitated, so he could sexually assault her while her mother was not present. Brown encouraged the victim to drink, including by promising to buy her a new phone, and dismissed the victim’s questions about seeing a dissolving pill in her drink.
The victim recalled memories of being touched and sexually assaulted by Brown in multiple ways. She also recalled that Brown left the residence and returned with a pill that he told her to take as “a safety measure.” The investigation revealed that during that time frame Brown had searched online about emergency contraception and had gone to Walgreens.
The following day, the victim told her mother that Brown had gotten “handsy” with her, which initially prompted her mother to go with the victim to the residence of the mother’s parents. The victim’s mother and maternal grandparents then met with the victim to hear the victim’s recollection of what Brown had done to her. The victim’s mother and grandparents recorded this conversation with the victim but did not report the incident to law enforcement. The next day, March 30, 2020, the victim contacted her friend’s mother regarding the sexual abuse and together they reported the crimes to law enforcement. The same day the victim reported these crimes to law enforcement, Brown sent the victim a text message, stating:
There are no words at all to say for what happened. I’m so sorry. I am very sorry for everything. That wasn’t me, that was alcohol. I would never ever ever hurt you like that sober. I hope one day you can forgive me. If there was anything I could do to make it better I would.
The victim’s mother and maternal grandparents were not supportive of this prosecution, despite the victim’s outcry and despite Brown’s prior record, which included convictions for Drug Possession, Theft, Possession of a Firearm by Felon, Possession with Intent to Distribute, Burglary, Entering an Automobile, and another felony gun possession. CCSO investigators had to obtain a search warrant for the victim’s mother’s phone, where investigators found the recording of the victim’s conversation with her mother and grandparents as well as screenshots the mother took of Brown’s above-referenced internet search history. The recording of the victim’s conversation with her mother and grandparents was particularly compelling evidence because it captured her real-time emotion as she described her abuse and it captured her family’s effort to discourage her from seeking justice through the judicial system.
I am pleased to report that the victim is now doing well, and has the support of other family members, including her father and brother. After the jury in this trial rendered its verdict of guilty on all counts, they returned to the court room to observe sentencing and to extend well wishes to the victim. Where this victim’s mother and maternal grandparents failed her, the victim’s friends, the investigators, the prosecution team, and the jury delivered her justice. This victim and our community deserve the safety of knowing that Brown will never be released from prison.
JOHN HERBERT CRANFORD, JR.
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
COWETA JUDICIAL CIRCUIT