On March 27, 2024, Curteze Avery, 30, of Lafeyette, Alabama, pleaded guilty to the 2022 murder of LaGrange resident Breanna Burgess who was 20 weeks pregnant. The Troup County Grand Jury indicted Avery on October 6, 2022 in Case Number 22-R-0761 for Malice Murder and Feticide. Pursuant to an agreement negotiated by the State, Superior Court Judge Erica Tisinger sentenced Avery to two concurrent life sentences for the murder of 26-year old Burgess and Ms. Burgess’s 20-week old unborn child. Pursuant to Georgia law, Avery will become eligible to seek parole in 2052, but the parole board will be authorized to reject his request.
Senior Assistant District Attorney David McLaughlin prosecuted the case and LaGrange Police Department Detective Charles Brown led the investigation, which revealed the following:
In the early morning hours of July 27, 2022, Ms. Burgess was found dead near Fort Drive and Whitesville Road in LaGrange, GA. She had been stabbed in the throat at least 14 times. She and her unborn child were pronounced dead at the scene. Through cell phone records, the LaGrange Police Department was quickly able to connect Ms. Burgess to a friend who was with her shortly before the crime. That friend told law enforcement the last time she saw Ms. Burgess was with Avery, driving away in a neon green Chevrolet Camaro.
Investigators were able to track the movement of the Camaro using LaGrange traffic cameras to and from the murder scene shortly before and after the time of the murders. The Camaro was subsequently located at a residence in LaGrange a few hours after the murders with blood on the outside of the car. Investigators obtained a search warrant for the car and residence and found Avery hiding inside the residence. A search of the car revealed blood throughout the inside of the car. A search of the residence where Avery was found revealed blood inside the residence and blood stained clothes in the washing machine and dryer. DNA analysis of the blood by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab matched Ms. Burgess.
Curteze Avery cut short the life Breanna Burgess and her unborn child. For this, it is just that he is now sentenced to serve Life in prison. While the family of Ms. Burgess will never fully heal from this senseless crime, the District Attorney’s Office is relieved to have obtained a Life sentence without the family experiencing the difficulty and uncertainty of a jury trial.
JOHN HERBERT CRANFORD, JR.
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
COWETA JUDICIAL CIRCUIT