Brown Sentenced to Life without Parole

Desmond Lavonta Brown was sentenced to Life without Parole, Monday,  for the murder of two Rome, Georgia women back in 2020.   A Cherokee County, Alabama, jury found Brown guilty of Capital Murder on November 21st and Monday began the sentencing phase where jurors heard additional testimony before recommending a sentence.   

Brown – with two co-defendants – was accused of  killing Armuchee High student Vanita Richardson, and her sister Truvenia Campbell in Alabama on his birthday – and then disposing of their bodies by throwing them off the loop near Grizzard Park in Rome.  The three men were first charged with Murder in neighboring Floyd County, Georgia until the evidence did show that the killings took place in Alabama.   They still face charges in Floyd County, and an assistant District Attorney with the Floyd County DA’s Office, Emily Johnson, has been assisting with the case.

There is still, a remaining Capital Case, against his co-defendant – Devon Watts and that trial is expected to begin in the spring of 2024; a third co-defendant, Christopher Pullen, faces a Felony Murder charge in that case but that accusation does not carry the option to impose a death sentence.  Testimony in the case began on November 13th – and lasted through the following Tuesday.  During the trial, Pullen said that he witnessed Brown shoot Campbell three times.  The incident began at Brown’s birthday party on May 12th, 2020 – at his mother’s house in Rome.

Brown couldn’t find his wallet, and suspected that one of the sisters stole it.   He, Watts and Pullen all took the sisters on a ride which led them into Cherokee County, Alabama.  It was then – Pullen said – Brown confronted the older sister, Campbell – and shot her three times when she refused to give him her purse.  The younger sister – Richardson – then handed over her purse willingly but was also shot and killed.   Pullen testified that he didn’t see who shot her.

The three men then traveled back to Georgia – where they drove around, and sold some synthetic marijuana – before placing bags over the sisters’ heads and dumping their bodies off the bridge.  They then went to Atlanta, where they met with associates and burned Richardson’s gold 1997 Toyota Corolla, according to Wilson.   All three men then returned to Rome, where they were arrested on other charges before being charged with murder.

(WRGA News in Rome, Georgia)