Suvechha Sarkar
Brandy Joy Keenan was a loving mother of five, a dutiful daughter, and a beloved granddaughter. Unfortunately, the beautiful life of the 38-year-old came to a sudden end in October 2013, when she was shot dead in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her untimely demise sent shockwaves through the community and left her family heartbroken. A&E’s ‘The First 48: Abandoned by the Bayou’ follows detectives working the case in real time and how several pieces of evidence helped them catch the killer. The episode also features emotional interviews with her father and grandmother.
Brandy Keenan’s Remains Were Found in a Vacant Lot a Few Days After Her Murder
On June 1, 1975, Brandy Joy Keenan arrived as a blessing in the lives of Teresa Wallace and Max W. Jenkins in Mount Clemens, Michigan. From a young age, her parents instilled in her the qualities of kindness and compassion. Besides being close to her sister, Stephanie Wallace, Brandy maintained an incredible connection with her grandmother, Dorothy J. Courtois. Sometime in adulthood, Brandy got into a relationship that eventually led to her marriage at a beautiful venue. Over the next few years, she and her partner welcomed their sons, Gabriel Keenan, Jordan Gill, Kayde Jenkins, and Rene Keenan, and their daughter, Korah Keenan, into the world.
Sadly, Brandy and her husband’s relationship began to crumble, resulting in their divorce. Reports state that she didn’t have the custody of her children. While two of her kids were in Dorothy’s custody, the other three lived with her ex-husband. Things further changed when Brandy began battling with drug addiction and got arrested multiple times due to that habit. By 2013, she was released from prison and was living in Bogalusa, Louisiana. On the morning of October 17, 2013, a resident from the 2600 block of Choctaw Street in New Orleans smelled a foul odor in a vacant lot. Upon searching the tall weeds, the resident discovered the remains of a woman and promptly called 911.
When officials arrived, they found that the remains were badly decomposed, indicating that the woman had died a few days before. Forensic experts reportedly noted that the woman appeared to be in her 30s, and her hands and feet were bound with duct tape. They observed that she was shot multiple times at close range. The K-9 unit helped the authorities recover four 9 mm shell casings at the scene. They further discovered a flip phone beneath the remains. The deceased was ultimately identified as Brandy through her fingerprints and tattoos. When digital forensic experts examined the SIM card in the phone, they found that it belonged to her boyfriend and she had been using it. The autopsy report determined Brandy’s cause of death to be multiple fatal gunshot wounds.
Brandy’s Roommate Helped Authorities Learn About Her Last Moments
Officials first spoke with a witness at the scene, who told them that a few nights prior, he had observed a white pickup truck. In his statements, the witness recalled seeing a black man with dreadlocks and a white woman getting out of the car before the man rummaged inside the truck. The witness had gone inside his home when he heard gunshots around 10 minutes later, and then noticed the truck was gone. After authorities spoke with Brandy’s boyfriend, who was then incarcerated on unrelated charges, they discovered that the 38-year-old was living at a nearby motel with another man for the past two weeks. Court records suggest that when the roommate was questioned, he told police he last saw Brandy on October 12, 2013, with a black guy with long braids who arrived in a white pickup truck.
According to police records, the roommate continued that he, the black man, and Brandy had all been sleeping before he and the man woke up to find Brandy gone. The roommate recalled that the guy then claimed Brandy had stolen $400 and drugs from him. The suspect waited for a few hours for Brandy before calling his friend to keep watch and leaving the motel. Shortly after, the black man arrived with a short white woman, who punched the 38-year-old when she finally returned. The roommate further stated that the man with long braids then convinced Brandy to leave with him, and that was the last time she was seen. When officials checked the motel’s CCTV footage, it reportedly confirmed the roommate’s statements. It captured Brandy leaving with the suspect, his friend, and the other woman.
Detailed Witness Statements and CCTV Footage Helped Officials Solve the Case
Further surveillance footage from the motel area provided the investigators with a clear picture of the suspect. One of the detectives reportedly identified him as 29-year-old Briceson Carter, who was a person of interest in another case. They learned that he had prior convictions for cocaine possession and first-degree robbery. Moreover, he had one traffic arrest, 17 felony arrests, and 14 misdemeanor arrests, but wasn’t found guilty in most of those cases. Briceson was reportedly arrested a day after Brandy disappeared on unrelated charges.
According to investigative records, authorities then tracked down his girlfriend, Angela Wolinski. When she was questioned, she claimed that she, Briceson, his friend, and Brandy had left the motel together on the night of the murder before the 29-year-old dropped off her girlfriend and drove away with the others. According to police records, detectives then questioned Briceson’s friend, who told them that he and the 29-year-old had stopped at a gas station. As they went inside, both women remained in the car before driving away. The friend reportedly informed that Briceson dropped him off first, with Brandy and Angela still inside the car.
Those statements were reportedly confirmed when investigators checked CCTV footage from the gas station. When Angela was re-interviewed, she initially denied knowing anything about the murder but ultimately confessed that she was inside the vehicle when Briceson shot Brandy. According to court records, she claimed she initially lied out of fear of her boyfriend. Official records state that Angela was later granted immunity from prosecution as an accessory after the fact and released. On October 25, 2013, Briceson was re-arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
Briceson Carter is Serving His Sentence at a Louisiana Prison Facility Today
During his re-arrest, Briceson was reportedly also facing charges of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated battery of another young schoolteacher. He further faced the charges of attempted second-degree murder, armed robbery, and simple escape. In April 2018, his jury trial finally commenced. During the trial, the prosecution presented several witnesses to the court. According to records, the prosecution alleged that after killing Brandy, Briceson went on a crime spree. They presented the interrogation of Angela, during which she confessed that Briceson had taken the 38-year-old into the bushes of the vacant lot, where she saw his silhouette firing a gun several times before her boyfriend returned to the car. On the other hand, the defense claimed that Angela wasn’t a reliable witness.
The defense reportedly emphasized that Angela had mentioned once during the interrogation that she was drunk on the night of the murder and couldn’t remember anything. They further pointed out that she had lied to the police previously. On the third day of the trial, Briceson accepted a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. As a part of the deal, the prosecution resolved several additional charges against him, including the accusations that he kidnapped, robbed, and threatened another woman. However, the public report does not explicitly mention whether those additional charges were officially dropped. Briceson was ultimately sentenced to 40 years in prison. He is currently incarcerated at the Allen Correctional Center in Kinder, Louisiana.
