ATLANTA — Witness testimony continued on Monday in the trial of an ex-Georgia officer accused of killing a Gwinnett County teen.
Susana Morales went missing in the summer of 2022, and it would be months until her remains were found in the woods.
The unsettling details of the case included police accusing Miles Bryant - a Doraville police officer who was terminated upon being arrested in early 2023 - of dumping Morales' naked body in the woods. Gwinnett Police later detailed a timeline of how they believed she was killed by Bryant after she'd gone to visit a friend the night of July 26, 2022.
Surveillance footage showed what appears to be Susana Morales walking on the night of her disappearance
A community center worker in Norcross testified to showing Morales' family surveillance footage of what appears to be her walking that night.
The video was dated July 26, 2022, just before 10 p.m., showing a young girl walking. You can hear a woman in the background of the video say, "Oh, my God," with worry, and the witness speaks Spanish with the woman.
Watch the full testimony below.
Investigator testifies to downloading cellphone and computer data from ex-officer's phone
Gwinnett County Police Cpl. Norman Howard testified to pulling cell phone and computer data from his phone.
He said that he had just given the information to the detective who was on the case.
Officer who questioned Miles Bryant about Susana Morales death testifies
Prosecutors started questioning Gwinnett County Police Sgt. Jorstad about officers finding the Glock 19 firearm on the scene near Morales' remains.
The firearm was shown to the jury in court.
The questioning then moved from finding the firearm to how authorities connected it to Bryant.
They were able to find out that he had reported it stolen and decided to question him about Morales' disappearance and his firearm.
While in questioning, Sgt. Jorstad said that Bryant had behavior showing signs he was nervous.
“Almost immediately, when we began talking to Mr. Bryant, his hands started shaking uncontrollably. His breathing was elevated. While we were in the car on the way, he kind of leaned his head up against the car, trying to attempt to take a nap," Sgt. Jorstad said in his testimony.
Prosecutors then showed the jury 25 minutes of body camera footage, which showed the interaction between Sgt. Jorstad, Bryant and another officer while picking him up for questioning.
Officers said that since Morales disappeared from the area, they wanted to question if he saw anything as a courtesy officer. Bryant was then taken to police headquarters.
“What’s going on, bro?” Bryant, an ex-Doraville Police officer, asked when he got picked up for questioning.
The two exchanged dialogue about being a police officer, traffic, the neighborhood and several other topics.
Watch the full body camera footage below.
Detective testifies over teen's last known cell phone location, sheds tears after teen's remains found
Detective Angela Carter testified in front of the jury about how she joined the case and looked into Morales' cell phone location data and social media accounts.
Her testimony specifically focused on Morales' location through Life360.
“Especially with the juvenile missing person. Juveniles leave home all the time. There’s always some trace of them. That just wasn’t the case in this investigation. Especially the facts of the Life360. That was odd knowing she didn’t have a vehicle," said Detective Carter.
View more of the testimony below.
Detective Carter then described the moments she heard about Morales' remains being found.
She started to break out in tears the moment she started piecing together the remains that belonged to Morales.
“I really was hoping it wasn’t her,” said Detective Carter. “I had a feeling that night it was going to be her.”
Video shown of ex-officer's interview with detectives
Detective Carter previously testified, saying she believed Bryant was a suspect at the time they interviewed him. The interview is three hours and 45 minutes long.
She said she wanted to make the interview seem casual, as if he was giving information to help further their investigation as the courtesy officer in the video.
Bryant says at the beginning of the interview, "I feel like a perp." Sgt. Jorstad previously testified, saying he felt like Bryant made that statement because he was being taken to police headquarters and being questioned.
The police interview, dated February 13, 2023, started with a friendly exchange between detectives and the former officer but soon escalated.
Detectives later informed the former officer that they found his gun on the scene where they found Morales' remains. The interview slowly starts to take a turn from there.
"I would never do something like that. That's not me," Bryant told officers in the police interview.
Bryant later said, "I didn't dump her body there," when detectives questioned him about him being near the woodline where they found her body.
The former officer was questioned about a phone call he made to Morales' friend, Esmeralda Castillo, from an unknown number while they were searching for her.
Bryant told police in the interview that he asked about the search for Morales and the latest in the case.
Police later grilled him about calling her friend from an unknown number.
In the hours-long police interview, detectives also spoke about a prior incident with his former friend, Elasha Bates, who testified in the trial on Friday.
Bates previously called the former officer a "stalker" because he would come to her apartment unannounced and try to open her door.
Detective Carter then left the room and Sgt. Jorstad walked in with the detective who had previously been in it.
The interview became heated as detectives tried to gather more information from Bryant.
“We aren’t painting you. You painted yourself. We can just read your body language and know you did this. I was just hoping to give this family some closure. You don’t represent this badge at all or this country," said one of the detectives.
“Yes, I do," Bryant replied.
"I'm going to find out who did this. I can't go down for this," Bryant said after detectives finished questioning him.
Prosecutors will continue questioning Detective Angela Carter on Tuesday morning. Proceedings normally start around 8:45 a.m.
You can re-watch Monday's trial proceedings in the video player below and on 11Alive's YouTube channel.
Highlights so far in the trial
On Friday, the medical examiner finally gave a cause of death in the case as undetermined because of how skeletal her remains were.
"Cause of death undetermined due to decomposition and skeletalization," she said. "There is no more testing that I can do because what I need to see is not there...She has been there for a period of months."
Prosecutors and defense attorneys also questioned two investigators. One of the investigators responded to a search warrant for the defendant's apartment. The other investigator was able to ping Bryant's cell phone near where investigators found Morales' remains in some woods in Dacula the next day she was last seen.
Other witnesses spoke to the defendant's character, one of them who was a former friend called him a "stalker" due to the amount of times Bryant would show up to her house unannounced.
Thursday's proceedings began with testimonies from Morales' best friend, Esmeralda "Rose" Castillo, and her boyfriend, Axel Zaragoza. Castillo recounted the moments leading up to Morales' disappearance, her growing concern when Morales didn't return home, and her attempts to locate her through a crash site app. Castillo also mentioned a previous encounter with Bryant, who offered them a ride, which they declined.
Zaragoza described Morales as an uplifting and loving person. He testified about their multiple FaceTime calls the night she disappeared.
Proceedings included testimonies from detectives and officers involved in the case. Gwinnett County Police Lt. Xavier Biggers, who became emotional on the stand, spoke about his dedication to finding Morales. Another officer recounted the discovery of a gun matching Bryant's stolen firearm report.
Bodycam footage was shown, capturing the moments when Morales' remains were found. Detective William Merkley testified about Bryant reporting his gun stolen, finding it odd that Bryant did not want an investigation into the theft.
Bryant's ex-girlfriend, Avyonne Smyre, testified about their arguments the night Morales disappeared and noted suspicious scratches on Bryant's truck.
Wednesday concluded with emotional testimonies from Morales' mother and sister, detailing their search efforts using the Life360 app.
Photos | Susana Morales
Who is Miles Bryant?
- He was a Doraville Police officer. After his arrest, the department said Bryant was no longer employed with them, calling him a "now former police officer."
- Bryant lived on Windscape Village Lane in Norcross, near the location where Susana Morales lived and originally went missing.
- He also lived and served as a courtesy officer at the apartment complex where Susana had gone to visit.
- Chief McClure previously said that investigators have not established if Morales and Bryant knew each other prior to her death.
- In a press conference last year, McClure acknowledged previous incidents involving Bryant - pointing to one in 2018, in which he had allegedly tried to enter a neighbor's home through the window. Additionally, there were allegations in December 2022 that Bryant tried to enter a residence where a woman said he was stalking her.