Former DeKalb Sheriff Sidney Dorsey death behind bars leaves victim's daughter 'incomplete'

Former DeKalb sherriff, convicted murderer dies

Sidney Dorsey, the former DeKalb County sheriff convicted of orchestrating the 2000 assassination of Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown, died in prison on Tuesday. Brown's family is reflecting on his death. 

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - Former DeKalb County Sheriff Sidney Dorsey has died at age 86 while serving a life sentence for the murder of his successor, Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown, according to state officials.

Brown's daughter said the news has come with mixed emotions. 

"I feel incomplete because there were questions that I had that I feel like I know that I would never get the answers to," Brandy Brown, Sheriff Derwin Brown’s daughter, said. "The thought came to me and that now his family feels what our family feels."

Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown in an undated archive image. (FOX 5 Atlanta)

‘He was a decorated and much admired detective’

What we know:

Former DeKalb Sheriff Sidney Dorsey was sentenced to life for putting a hit on Derwin Brown after losing re-election to him. The Georgia Department of Corrections says he died Monday evening of natural causes. Dorsey and the two deputies who carried out the hit were found guilty, and the former sheriff later confessed in 2007. The two deputies involved in the murder remain in prison for life.

"That was the first time in Georgia that we use the RICO statute against a public official," J. Tom Morgan, former prosecutor, said. "He was a decorated and much admired detective who was the first black sheriff elected in DeKalb County, and… but he let the power go to his head."

Police respond to the scene where Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown was fatally shot outside his home in Decatur on December 15, 2000. (FOX 5 Atlanta)

Derwin Brown shot in front of his home

Timeline:

On December 15, 2000, a former deputy shot Derwin Brown in front of his home in Decatur 12 times. This occurred three days before Brown was scheduled to be sworn in as the new sheriff. J. Tom Morgan led the prosecution against the former sheriff in 2002 following 18 months of grueling investigation. Dorsey remained behind bars for 25 years until his death this week at the age of 86.

Morgan and his team were able to prove that Dorsey was bitter over his loss to Brown in a runoff election.

"I immediately went to the hospital to view the body," J. Tom Morgan, former prosecutor, said. "And then the crime scene and the autopsy." Brandy Brown noted that Dorsey left a specific legacy when he made the decision he made on December 15, 2000.

Police respond to the scene where Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown was fatally shot outside his home in Decatur on December 15, 2000. (FOX 5 Atlanta)

‘Rainy Night in Georgia’

What's next:

Former prosecutor Morgan wrote a book on the case called a "Rainy Night in Georgia." That book is due to come out in September. For the family of Derwin Brown, the death of Dorsey leaves questions that will haunt his daughter for the rest of her life.