ATLANTA — The family of the 23-year-old suspect accused of fatally stabbing a 77-year-old woman at her Buckhead home on Saturday have released a statement condemning the suspect's actions.
The statement comes one day after Antonio Brown was arrested and charged with murdering Eleanor Bowles.
In their statement, the family apologized "with profound sorrow" to the Bowles family for Brown's alleged actions and offered prayers and "sincere, heartfelt condolences."
"The tragedy visited upon their family, and our relative's involvement, is senseless and inexcusable," the statement read.
Brown was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday morning for his first court appearance as part of the murder case but he waived his right to that hearing, according to county officials.
In arrest warrants released Tuesday, investigators allege Brown stabbed Bowles multiple times at her Buckhead home between 12:00 and 12:32 p.m. on Saturday and then stole her SUV.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis released her own statement addressing the case writing that her office is now working with the Atlanta Police Department "to ensure that justice is served for the murder of Eleanor Bowles." Willis' office did not comment further, citing the open investigation.
As for Brown, he is now in the Fulton County Jail for the fourth time since 2019, according to jail records.
He was arrested in 2019 on a shoplifting charge and in January 2020 for allegedly carrying a concealed weapon, giving police a false name, and misdemeanor drug charges.
Atlanta police arrested Brown again in August of 2020 for felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor simple assault against a family member. Following that arrest, Brown was indicted by a grand jury. In the indictment, he was accused of grabbing his mother by her neck while holding a knife.
Transcripts from court hearings quote prosecutors saying Brown and his mother had been arguing with each other during the incident.
After being held in jail for more than a year, Brown eventually reached a plea deal with prosecutors in the case. He was sentenced to 12 months in custody for simple assault and the felony assault charge wasn't prosecuted.
Because he had already been in jail for more than 12 months, Brown was released after entering his guilty plea.
In a statement to 11Alive, Willis called the resolution in that case "consistent with the facts, including claims by the defendant’s mother and other family members that the mother was the aggressor in the case."
After waiving his first court appearance for the Saturday stabbing, Brown remains in the Fulton County Jail. His next court hearing has not yet been scheduled.