BROOKHAVEN, Ga. – Questions still surround the case of a 17-year-old facing charges after a man was shot leaving a wedding in Brookhaven.
Now the court and the diversion program that have both been in the spotlight after Jayden Myrick was arrested are releasing statements.
The victim, Christian Broder, was attending a wedding at a country club Saturday night, July 7, when he was shot outside the club, just after midnight July 8, following the reception. He, along with a few other wedding guests, were waiting for an Uber when the shooting happened.
The husband and father of an infant girl was taken to the hospital. He died a couple of weeks after the shooting.
11Alive digged into the suspect's past. He pleaded guilty to an armed robbery in an unrelated case. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Doris Downs in that earlier case ordered Myrick into rehab instead of prison. The judge had high praise for the program and its founder, Gwen Sands. But did the rehab program she ordered the teen to attend ever do its job?
At the time Broder was attacked, Myrick was supposed to be enrolled in a live-in rehab program for troubled youth called Visions Unlimited. However, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard told 11Alive there wasn't any evidence that Myrick actually enrolled in the program.
"It’s clear it that he was not in the custody of the program, as he was posting all of the Instagram postings with him being out of custody, so I’m not real sure he ever appeared," Howard said.
Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Robert McBurney released a statement Thursday about this case.
The Superior Court does not maintain a roster of external community organizations or agencies or provide financial support for any such program. It also does not directly supervise a defendant’s participation in such programs. That is the role of the State Department of Community Supervision, commonly known as the Probation Department. The Probation Department has the responsibility of bringing to the Court’s attention any non-compliance with conditions of probation, to include failure to participate in a private provider’s program.
Such private service providers typically become involved in criminal cases at the behest of the defendant and his attorney. As part of a sentence recommendation, defense counsel, often accompanied by a representative of the agency or organization, will present to the Court a set of services to be offered to the defendant by the provider. The prosecutor is given an opportunity to comment on the proposed resolution. If the sentencing judge determines that that set of services would be useful and appropriate for a given situation, the judge may – but is not required to – order that the defendant participate in a particular program. Judges appropriately rely on the representations from sworn officers of the Court such as defense counsel as to the nature and extent of services to be provided. The Court makes no payment to the program on behalf of the defendant; funding, if any, comes from outside sources such as private donations or State assistance. - Judge Robert McBurney
When 11Alive first tried to get details about the program, there was no profile that our reporters could find, beyond an outdated Facebook page. There wasn't website or any published records of any success turning around troubled youth.
However, the program provided a statement Thursday on letterhead about Myrick's case, saying he attended sessions there:
Jayden Myrick was enrolled in our program and all services were provided to him. He regularly attended sessions, was present for his hours of work obligation as well as his classroom attendance. Mr. Myrick displayed no inappropriate or disruptive behavior while in the program. Visions Unlimited is not responsible for Jayden or any of the students during their personal time spent away from the program. We are absolutely devastated and saddened by the incident that happened over the weekend on Saturday, July 7th. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and most importantly the family and friends of Mr. Broder. - Visions Unlimited
Organizers also included in the statement that "Visions Unlimited has been a successful diversion initiative that was specifically designed to help counter the violence that affects all communities in Metro Atlanta."
11Alive is also working to get answers from the Probation Department as well as meeting with Visions Unlimited's chief operating officer next week.
