Miles Bryant trial: Mother, ex-girlfriend, cellmate called to testify in murder trial

Miles Bryant murder trial: Fellow inmate takes stand

Gripping testimony in the trial of a former Doraville police charged with murder. A Gwinnett County inmate took the witness stand and said Miles Bryant told him there was nothing to link him to the crime.

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - Riveting testimony continued Friday in Gwinnett County during the murder trial of Miles Bryant, the former Doraville police officer accused of killing 16-year-old Susana Morales.

In the morning session, Tracy Bryant, the mother of the accused, was the first witness to take the stand, called by Special Prosecutor Brandon Delfunt. The prosecution focused on text messages sent by Bryant to his mother on the night Morales was killed.

Prosecutors also called one of the defendant's ex-girlfriends to the stand Friday morning.

Miles Bryant's ex-girlfriend testifies

Ex-girlfriend of Miles Bryant testifies

An ex-girlfriend took the stand on Friday morning during the trial of the former police officer, Miles Bryant, accused of killing the 16-year-old girl.

Sanovia Parks testified she and Bryant were long-time friends who dated for a few years. She testified that they continued to live together at the Sterling Glen Apartment complex for a time after breaking up in June 2022.

The prosecution hopes to establish that Bryant lied about his movements the night Morales disappeared. During testimony, Bryant’s ex-girlfriend disputed the defendant's claims of his whereabouts that night.

Miles Bryant accused of stalking

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Prosecutors in the Miles Bryant murder trial played a Ring camera video showing what they say was Bryant trying to open the door of a friend he is accused of stalking during testimony at the Gwinnett County courthouse on June 7, 2024. (Supplied)

The prosecution played Ring camera video capturing the defendant attempting to break into the residence of a long-time friend that December.

She testified the defendant was stalking her and showed up at her house uninvited on multiple occasions.

Miles Bryant murder trial: Wrap of day 3

Riveting testimony Friday in the murder trial of former Doraville Police Officer Miles Bryant. A former friend of Bryant's says he stalked her in the months following Susana Morales' murder.

Miles Bryant cellmate testifies

Gwinnett County jail inmate Michael Jones also took the witness stand for the prosecution on Friday.

He told the court he talked with Bryant daily while both were housed at the Lawrenceville facility, and said Bryant told him he wasn't going to be linked to Morales' murder because there were no bodily fluids recovered at the crime scene.

Michael Jones testifies what he says Miles Bryant, his then-cellmate, said about his impending murder charges during the trial at the Gwinnett County courthouse on June 7, 2024. (FOX 5)

"He said, ‘Well, I'm not going to be charged with this. They said they aint got nothing against me. It said right here, there ain’t no fluid, no blood, nothing. They aint got nothing against me,’" Jones testified.

When pressed by Bryant's attorney, Jones denied being offered a deal by the prosecution to testify.

Investigator John Wilbanks, an expert in cellular data mapping, was also called to testify on Friday morning.

Day four of the trial begins Monday with testimony set to get underway at 9 a.m.

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What happened to Susana Morales?

Susana Morales

Morales was reportedly walking home from a friend's house on July 26, 2022, when she disappeared. She was last seen on surveillance video near Singleton Road and Indian Trail Lilburn Road around 10 p.m.

Her family claimed that the Gwinnett County Police Department did not take her disappearance seriously because they believed she was a runaway. They searched for her themselves without any luck.

In February 2023, Susana's remains were found near Highway 316. A few days later, police held a press conference and announced they had arrested Doraville Police Officer Miles Bryant, who worked as a courtesy officer at the apartment complex the teenager was visiting before her disappearance.

Former Doraville Police Officer Miles Bryant, accused in the murder of 16-year-old Susana Morales in July 2022, sits in a Gwinnett County courtroom listening to testimony on June 7, 2024.