Murder trial: Witness testifies to role in killings

The first man arrested by police in the double homicide in Dublin during the early hours of Easter 2024 took the stand to testify against the two defendants – men he said were in the car that tragic night.

Kyndall Brazeal, who was wearing an orange prisoner jumpsuit, took the stand to testify against Quintez Dewayne Mercer, 29, of East Dublin, and Jaswain Martwain Bell, 23, of Dublin, the two men who are facing multiple charges in the shooting deaths of Sacred Brown, 24, and Miyori Ellington, 23, on March 31, 2024. 

According to Brazeal, Mercer communicated that he had gotten into an altercation with two people before the incident on March 31. They were riding in Brazeal’s mother’s car, a gray Nissan. Brazeal said Mercer was the driver and Bell was the front seat passenger because he was “tired of driving.” 

At some point after driving around, they came upon a street with a lot of cars.

“We wanted to check it out,” Brazeal said. 

This is when Brazeal said Mercer claimed he saw Kobi Todd. Brazeal said the windows were let down, and the vehicle slowed down before Mercer told him and Bell to shoot Todd. 

“I knew of him but I didn’t have a beef with him,” Brazeal said. “There was a couple of people around him. I saw a group of people get burned.”

Brazeal said he threw out bullet casings from Bell’s automatic rifle as they drove away from the scene. Not long after that, Brazeal received a call telling him that Ellington had been out there. 

“(Mercer) told me not to worry because we didn’t know she was out there,” Brazeal said. 

Brazeal went over the many things he did and the places he went before the police arrested him a few days after the shooting. Brazeal admitted that he lied about his involvement before changing his story that he was the driver. On Jan. 31, 2025, he talked with the Georgia Attorney General’s Office, which is prosecuting the case, and told them he wanted to tell the truth, which is what he testified to in court Tuesday.

He admitted to having struck a deal of 20 years, to serve 10 ,with the previous Dublin District Attorney’s office. He wanted to clear up his role in the whole event.

“I needed to tell the truth in what I did,” Brazeal said.

On cross-examination by Mercer’s attorney Courtney Morgan, Brazeal testified that he has not talked to Mercer since shooting. She asked Brazeal if he had been lying from the beginning.

“You would lie to lie, just like you would to us?” she asked.

“I have no reason to now,” Brazeal said.

The witness said he shot his gun because he wanted to have Bell’s back.

“How is firing into a group of people having his back? I’m trying to make it make sense,” Morgan said. “You started shooting to have his back?”

Until January 2025, Brazeal did not assist law enforcement. That changed, Brazeal said, because “I have to tell the truth.” 

On cross, Lloyd had Brazeal admit that neither Bell nor Mercer helped with anything after the shooting.

“Your story changed every time,” Lloyd said.

GBI Agent Joseph Brown followed on the stand, telling how he responded to the scene after his agency was requested by the Dublin Police Department. After receiving a briefing of what happened, Brown interviewed multiple witnesses on the scene. 

From those interviews, Brazeal was an initial suspect. He said Mercer and Bell were with him.

The third day of a trial, which is being presided over by Superior Court Judge Trey Taylor, began with several witnesses who were on West Avenue when the shooting occurred. 

Kobi Todd said he saw a car out of his peripheral vision before he was shot. He had been talking with Ellington before then. He heard rapid gunfire and passed out after being shot about six times.

“I didn’t see anyone with a gun,” Todd said.

Todd, who admitted to being a gang member, said he was shot at on March 22, 2024. Just like the shooting on March 31, Todd did not see who shot at him. On cross, Morgan asked him if people should be afraid that he’s in a gang.

“A gang is nothing but a brotherhood,” Todd said. “It’s like a club. It’s a way of life.” 

Todd had never seen Mercer shoot at him.

“I ain’t got no problems with (Mercer),” he said.

Todd did not see Bell shoot a gun either. 

“We’ve never had no problems,” Todd said.

Jamal Whipple testified that he was waiting to get a haircut on West Avenue. When he was on the porch, after returning from the bathroom, he heard gunshots. 

“I turned and saw my people on the ground,” Whipple said. “I didn’t see who did it.” 

Whipple was asked by Morgan if Mercer was there, with a gun or if had a problem with him. He said, “Negative,” to all of them. He had the same response when attorney Michael Lloyd asked Whipple those same questions about Bell. 

On Monday, Leigha Chavers, GBI crime scene specialist, arrived on the scene and talked with officers. She described the crime scene photos she had taken, which included the victims, vehicles, bullets and other evidence.

A corporal with the Dublin Police Department testified about arriving to what he called a “chaotic” scene. About two minutes of the officer’s body camera footage showed him helping one of the victims, who later took the stand to testify.

The victim said he went by himself to the house on West Avenue on the night of March 31, 2024. He talked with Brown, who he used to work with at YKK. He mentioned where he and Brown were when he heard loud “boom” sounds. 

He did not see any vehicles pass by. The first witnesses on Monday were Ellington’s mother and Brown’s stepmother. Both testified about receiving calls about the shooting.

Brown’s father, Demetrica, talked with the media after a break was called for lunch Monday. He said his daughter was a good person, and that he and his wife and other family members plan to be in court every day throughout the trial.

“This has been a tragedy,” he said. “Nothing can be said to bring my daughter back. She was at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Monday was the one-year anniversary of the tragic shooting.

“There has been a lot of pain and suffering,” Brown said. “I’ve had some good and bad days, but God will lead us through. Our church family has supported us a lot. Sometimes we give them a call. They have been behind us 100 percent. Without them, I don’t know where I would be.”

The trial resumed Wednesday in the Laurens County Courthouse.