The Paulding County district attorney said Thursday he intends to seek the death penalty against a mother accused of killing three of her children and setting the family’s home on fire.
“This is not a decision that I have reached lightly, but given the facts and circumstances surrounding this case, I feel this is the appropriate action,” DA Matthew Rollins said in an emailed statement.
Darlene Brister, 40, was arrested June 24 after a 911 caller reported that a Woodwind Drive home was on fire in the Yorkville community, near the Polk County line. Inside the burning home, two of Brister’s seven children were already dead. A third died at the hospital, according to investigators.
On Wednesday, a Paulding grand jury indicted Brister on 16 charges, including three counts of murder, Rollins said. She has been charged with three counts each of malice murder and felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, arson, and seven counts of cruelty to children in the first degree, the district attorney said. On Thursday, Rollins filed notice that he will seek the death penalty.
Brister remained late Thursday in the Paulding jail, where she is being held without bond, booking records showed.
Investigators have not released details about a possible motive for the violence. Brister’s husband, who had been out of town, arrived back at the home as investigators worked through the crime scene, according to his mother.
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
The youngest two children, 8-month-old Devonte and 3-year-old Donovan, died inside the home, the Paulding sheriff’s office previously said. The boys both had stab wounds. A third boy, 5-year-old Devin, died at the hospital from his injuries. An 8-year-old boy underwent emergency surgery but survived, his family said.
The children’s deaths shocked the family, Vicky Brister said.
“I never saw that side of her,” Brister said of her daughter-in-law. “Never. I couldn’t tell you what would have led her to do something like that.”
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