GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Miles Bryant, the 22-year-old ex-Doraville officer indicted for murder in the death of 16-year-old Susan Morales, was denied bond again on Monday.
Bryant was previously denied bond after his arrest in February.
The grand jury indictment puts four charges against Bryant: malice murder, Georgia's most serious murder charge; felony murder, kidnapping and false report of a crime.
Morales had been missing for more than six months before her body was found in February. Bryant was initially arrested for concealing the death of another, with a warrant accusing him of dumping the 16-year-old's naked body in the woods. Later his initial charges were upgraded to felony murder and kidnapping.
The false report charge stems from when he said last summer his personal car had been broken into and a gun was taken from inside.
In a previous press conference, Gwinnett Police Chief J.D. McClure laid out a timeline of events and how Bryant killed Morales.
He said on July 26, 2022, she went to visit a friend in a nearby apartment complex and that she was taken between 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. while returning home. He said police believe that she was killed sometime by 2 a.m.
Morales was reported missing the next morning, July 27, at 9 a.m.
"By the time she was reported missing we have every reason to believe that Susana was deceased," McClure said.
He also said there was "no indication" Morales had been shot to death.
"We don't definitively know (how she died), we're still investigating. What we do know is she died at the hands of Miles Bryant," McClure said.
The chief said that investigators have not established if Morales and Bryant previously knew each other.
"We have looked at the idea if there was some type of knowledge or relationship, but so far we have not made that connection. We do not know if she knew or was familiar with Bryant in any capacity," he said.
McClure added that Bryant lived and served as a courtesy officer at the apartment complex where Morales had gone to visit.
Asked about a motive, the chief responded: "I don't want to speak to motive at this time, again we're still investigating."
The chief 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, and allegations in December that he tried to enter a residence (a woman has told 11Alive Bryant was stalking her) - but said he was not suspected of any other violent crimes rising to the murder of Morales.