In the quiet hours between a summer evening and the early morning of July 27, 2022, sixteen-year-old Susana Morales walked home from a friend's apartment in Georgia and never arrived. Months later, her skeletal remains were found near a highway, and the handgun discovered beside her traced back to Miles Bryant — a 22-year-old police officer who had lived and worked in the very complex she had visited that night. The case now stands as a painful reckoning with the covenant of trust that a badge is meant to represent, and what is lost when that covenant is broken by the one who carries it.
Ex-Georgia cop charged with murder in death of 16-year-old Susana Morales
A 16-year-old girl, Susana Morales, was killed by a police officer who had access to her community; her skeletal remains were discovered months after her disappearance.
Police officers should always be pillars of trust.
Mark
Why did the gun become the turning point in this case?
Mimi
Because Bryant had reported it missing the very morning Susana disappeared, and then investigators found it near her remains. That's not coincidence—that's the thread that ties him directly to the crime scene.
Mark
Did anyone know he was dangerous before this?
Mimi
There were warning signs. A 2018 incident where he allegedly tried to enter a neighbor's home through a window. Then another incident in December 2022 at someone else's house. Nothing prosecuted, nothing that would have stopped him from wearing a badge.
Mark
What troubles you most about this case?
Mimi
That he had access to the community he policed. He lived where she lived. He worked there as a courtesy officer. He was supposed to be someone people could trust, and instead he may have been watching her.
Mark
Do they know how she died?
Mimi
Not definitively. No evidence of a gunshot wound, even though his gun was found there. The chief said it's possible she was raped. The uncertainty makes it harder to understand what happened in those hours between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.
Mark
What happens next?
Mimi
Warrants are expected in connection with that December 2022 incident. Investigators are still working to establish motive and to understand whether there's a pattern here—whether Bryant had targeted Susana specifically or if this was opportunistic.
Le Pouls
- A teenage girl walked home alone at 10 p.m. and vanished — and the man now charged with her murder was the uniformed presence meant to keep her neighborhood safe.
- For months, Susana's family had no answers, only absence, until a grid search through Georgia woods uncovered skeletal remains and a gun reported missing the very morning she disappeared.
- The matching of that weapon to Officer Miles Bryant transformed a missing-persons case into a murder investigation, and initial charges of concealing a death quickly escalated to felony murder and kidnapping.
- Investigators are now tracing a longer pattern of troubling behavior, including a 2018 allegation of attempted break-in and a December 2022 incident still under review — raising questions about what warning signs went unheeded.
- The Gwinnett County Police Chief publicly named the added weight of this crime: when the accused wears a badge, the wound to public trust cuts deeper, even within law enforcement itself.
In the quiet hours between a summer evening and the early morning of July 27, 2022, sixteen-year-old Susana Morales walked home from a friend's apartment in Georgia and never arrived. Months later, her skeletal remains were found near a highway, and the handgun discovered beside her traced back to Miles Bryant — a 22-year-old police officer who had lived and worked in the very complex she had visited that night. The case now stands as a painful reckoning with the covenant of trust that a badge is meant to represent, and what is lost when that covenant is broken by the one who carries it.
Miles Bryant was 22 years old and worked as a courtesy officer at Sterling Glen Apartments in Doraville, Georgia — a uniformed presence meant to provide safety and reassurance to residents. On the evening of July 26, 2022, sixteen-year-old Susana Morales left her home in Norcross and walked to that same complex to visit a friend. She stayed for about four hours. Around 10 p.m., she began walking home.
She never made it. Police believe she encountered Bryant somewhere between 10 and 10:30 that night. By 2 a.m. on July 27, investigators believe she was dead. That same morning, Bryant reported his personal handgun missing. Susana's family reported her missing too.
Months passed without answers. Then, in February, searchers conducting a grid search near Highway 316 found Susana's skeletal remains in a wooded area. Lying close to her body was a handgun — the one Bryant had reported missing the morning after she disappeared. The discovery ended any ambiguity about where investigators should look.
Bryant had already been fired from the Doraville Police Department following initial charges of concealing a death and filing a false report. On Wednesday, Gwinnett County Police Chief J.D. McClure announced those charges had been elevated to felony murder and kidnapping. Police have not determined the exact cause of death, though investigators noted the possibility of sexual assault.
As the case deepens, so does the portrait of Bryant's history. In 2018, a neighbor accused him of attempting to enter her home through a window; the matter was closed when she declined to press charges. In December 2022, a similar allegation emerged involving another acquaintance's home — that case remains open, and warrants are expected. McClure acknowledged the pattern was troubling, and suggested Bryant may have been watching Susana for some time before the night she vanished.
"This type of crime at the hands of a law enforcement officer evokes anger, even within the ranks of this agency," McClure said. The case has become not only a pursuit of justice for one girl and her family, but a stark reminder of what is at stake when the people entrusted with protection become the source of harm.
Miles Bryant was a police officer in Doraville, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. He was 22 years old. On the morning of July 27, he reported that his personal handgun was missing. That same morning, the family of 16-year-old Susana Morales reported her missing. She had not come home the night before.
Susana had left her house in Norcross at 6 p.m. on July 26 and walked to Sterling Glen Apartments, where she spent about four hours with a friend. She started walking home around 10 p.m. Somewhere between 10 and 10:30 p.m., police say, she encountered Bryant. After that, no one saw or heard from her again. Investigators believe she died sometime between that encounter and 2 a.m. on July 27.
Bryant lived at Sterling Glen Apartments. He worked there as a courtesy officer—a police presence stationed in the complex. It is unclear whether Susana and Bryant knew each other before that night. Police have not determined exactly how she died. There is no indication she was shot, though investigators said it is possible she was raped.
In February, searchers found Susana's skeletal remains in a wooded area near Highway 316, between Drowning Creek and the Barrow County line. During a grid search of that location, they discovered a handgun in close proximity to where her body lay. The gun matched the one Bryant had reported missing on July 27. That discovery transformed him from a person of interest into the focus of a murder investigation.
Bryant was initially charged with concealing a death and filing a false report. On Wednesday, Gwinnett County Police Chief J.D. McClure announced that those charges had been upgraded to felony murder and kidnapping. Bryant had already been fired from the Doraville Police Department in light of the earlier charges.
Investigators are now examining Bryant's history for patterns. In 2018, a neighbor accused him of trying to enter her house through a window. Police responded, but Bryant denied the allegation. The homeowner declined to press charges, and the matter was closed. In December 2022, Bryant visited the home of an acquaintance and may have attempted to enter that residence as well. That case remains under investigation, and police said they expect to seek warrants. Neither of these incidents occurred at Sterling Glen Apartments.
McClure said that while there is no evidence linking Bryant to harming anyone else in a similar manner, the pattern of behavior is troubling. As for motive in Susana's death, police are still investigating. It is possible, McClure suggested, that Bryant had been watching her for some time before the night she disappeared.
McClure called Susana's death "an unspeakable tragedy" and acknowledged the particular sting it carries when the person accused is a law enforcement officer. "This type of crime at the hands of a law enforcement officer evokes anger, even within the ranks of this agency," he said. "Police officers should always be pillars of trust."
Citations marquantes
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.— Gwinnett County Police Chief J.D. McClure
This type of crime at the hands of a law enforcement officer evokes anger, even within the ranks of this agency.— Gwinnett County Police Chief J.D. McClure
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Crime & Justice