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Suspect in bizarre forklift murder case was former college student suffering mental crisis, his mom says
20-year-old Bryce Caleb Timothy Brown's mom says she called authorities for help in the hours before the attack in Waldorf.
www.wusa9.com
Suspect in bizarre forklift murder case was former college student suffering mental crisis, his mom says
20-year-old Bryce Caleb Timothy Brown's mom says she called authorities for help in the hours before the attack in Waldorf.
Author: Scott Broom
Published: 5:27 PM EDT July 4, 2023
Updated: 7:49 AM EDT July 5, 2023
WALDORF, Md. — The mother of a 20-year-old man accused of killing a 73-year old woman using a stolen forklift from a Lowes store in Waldorf early Sunday says she had called the Charles County Sheriff's Office for help in the hours before the bizarre incident.
Kristy Brown said her son, Bryce Caleb Timothy Brown, appeared to be in a mental health crisis Saturday evening when she called for deputies to come to her home in Waldorf and help find him after he had fled from the house.
“I kept screaming 'come get him come get him,'" Brown said as she recalled her 911 phone call. "It took them maybe 20 minutes. By the time they got here he was gone.”
Bryce Brown is accused of breaking into a nearby Lowes store on Crain Highway in Waldorf at about 12:40 a.m. Sunday.
Investigators say he used the machine to smash through security gates into the parking lot of the store. At that point investigators report he rammed a car which happened to have a 73-year-old woman sleeping inside.
When the woman got out the car to flee, investigators say Brown used the forklift to run her down, killing her.
The forklift was then found abandoned with the victim's body underneath the machine about a half mile away in the parking lot of a Home Depot on Crain Highway.
Brown is accused of stealing her car from the Lowes parking lot where the incident began.
The Charles County Sheriff's office announced Monday that they arrested Brown after locating the car near his home.
The victim was identified as 73-year-old Gloristine Pinkney of Waldorf. Her family has not issued a statement.
Authorities say Pinkney and Brown did not know each other.
In addition to grieving for her son's apparent mental breakdown and arrest, Brown's mother said she is shattered by the death of Ms. Pinkney.
“I'm just so sorry. I'm so sorry," Brown said. "My heart aches for the family of the victim as well as my heart. I'm heartbroken."
Brown said her son graduated from Friendship Tech Prep in D.C. in 2021 and went to Bridgewater College in Virginia on an academic scholarship, but a descent into mental illness soon began. She said it worsened after an active shooter incident at the college in February of 2022 that killed two people.
Credit: WUSA9
Bryce Caleb Timothy Brown, seen and a graduation photo hanging in his mother's Waldorf home. Brown is accused of killing a 73-year old woman with a stolen forklift.
"We have tried to get Bryce help, but as an adult there's nothing that I can do after the age of 18," his mother said. "So whatever we tried, if he refused, there was nothing we could do."
She described the situation as frustrating.
Brown said she will ask a judge to hold her son for a mental health evaluation when he appears in court for a bond hearing.
Forklift murder suspect's mother speaks out about his mental crisis
The Charles County Sheriff's Office arrested Bryce Brown, 20, in connection to the death of 73-year-old Gloristine Pinkney.
www.cbsnews.com
The Charles County Sheriff's Office said Brown ended up at the Lowe's on Crain Highway around 12:40 a.m. Sunday. Investigators said he stole a forklift, rammed it through the rear gates, and rode it to the nearby Home Depot.
It was there that he hit the car of Pinkney, who was sleeping inside it at the time. Pinkney tried to run away after Bryce hit her car, but he then ran her over with the forklift.
Brown then drove off with Pinkney's car, according to the Charles County Sheriff's Office. Investigators found her after he had already left.
"I'm just so sorry," Kristy said. "My heart aches for the victim."
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