Writing A Murder Journal

Brandy Stevens was nineteen years old in May 2012. She was born on 30 November 1992 and grew up in Beaver Township, Ohio, roughly halfway between Pittsburgh and Cleveland. She was close to her family, loved cats, music and go-karts, played in her school orchestra for eight years and sat on the teenage advisory board of the Boardman Library. After school she enrolled at Youngstown State University, where she studied psychology and sociology. She was a diabetic and kept her insulin in her backpack. Her mother, Carrie, said she had known Brandy was gay before Brandy did and had accepted her in any form.

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now Brandy's friends saw the relationship as one-sided. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it Brandy was angry but forgave her. this part of the story is covered for now

details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it

On 17 May 2012, a Thursday, Brandy told her grandmother she was going to visit her friend Rhiannon. She was not. this part of the story is covered for now On the way she texted Rhiannon that she had a funny feeling and sent the address where she would be. Because her blood sugar felt low, she stopped at a roadside Subway for something to eat. details of the account remain covered until revealed

What waited there had been planned. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now Both women set on Brandy, punching and kicking her, and stuffed a hat into her mouth to quieten her screams. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now They rolled her into a grave they had already dug, twenty-two inches deep. Brandy was still breathing. details of the account remain covered until revealed They shovelled the dirt back over her, possibly while she was still alive. The sweatshirt she had been wearing, heavy with blood, went into the grave with her. Afterwards they burned their own clothes and Brandy's shoes and belongings, washed the shovel, put Brandy's car in the garage and, that same day, wrote in a journal about how wonderful the murder had been.

Brandy's grandmother noticed that she had left her insulin behind and called her mother. Because Brandy was without her medication, the family was able to file a missing person report straight away. The police treated it as a young woman who had gone off with friends. It was the family who did the searching. Christy Horvat, Brandy's close friend, drove out to Drake Hill Road at night, found a dirt road in the middle of nowhere and turned around at the church. When Brandy's phone pinged off a tower in Meadville on the Monday, relatives and friends went door to door with posters. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now

details of the account remain covered until revealed Her mother knew something was badly wrong because the car had been cleaned out, and Brandy's car was never clean. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now An off-duty trooper spotted two women matching their descriptions near the woods under the Smock Bridge in Vernon Township and followed their car to a traffic light in Meadville. On 23 May forensic teams went to Drake Hill Road, where a possible blood stain had been found in the roadway. A cadaver dog followed tyre tracks across grass and along a logging road. About fifty yards into the woods they found disturbed earth that had not been compacted, and in a twenty-two-inch grave they found Brandy, fully clothed apart from her shoes and socks, a yellow rope around her neck, a water bottle, a black hat and three or four large rocks, one with blood on it, lying on her chest.

details of the account remain covered until revealed First she knew nothing. Then Brandy had walked down the road to be picked up by someone else. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it Finally, after the body was found, she blamed her father, saying he had fought Brandy because she looked like a boy. this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed The autopsy found fifteen lacerations to the scalp, a skull fracture, a ligature around the neck, a hat pushed into her mouth and evidence of suffocation by dirt and water. The cause was recorded as suffocation in a setting of blunt force trauma and ligature application.

Brandy was cremated because her mother did not want to bury her a second time. Her friend Christy gave the eulogy, saying that all Brandy had wanted was to be herself in a world without prejudice.

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it The district attorney decided not to seek the death penalty, explaining that Pennsylvania law requires one of eighteen aggravating circumstances and that the evidence did not show an intent to inflict substantial and unnecessary pain; in his view they had simply been ineffective at killing her. this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now

details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now The two are no longer a couple and were kept apart in custody. A memorial bench was unveiled at Youngstown State University in 2013, and a scholarship in Brandy's name goes to Boardman High School students studying music. Every 17 May her family and friends hold a vigil at the bench.