On a late September evening in Mableton, Georgia, the life of 31-year-old Thadeus Statum was tragically cut short. On September 30, 2021, Cobb County Police Officers responded to a call about a vehicle that had crashed through a chain-link fence on Blackhawk Trail. Inside the vehicle, they discovered Statum in the passenger seat, suffering from a gunshot wound to his lower abdomen.
He was rushed to Cobb Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The driver of the car, who remained at the scene, recounted a harrowing tale to the police. He explained that he and Statum had been set up by two men who intended to rob them. According to the driver's account, upon their arrival at the location on Blackhawk Trail, one of the men, later identified as 25-year-old Brandon Glover, exited a vehicle and fired a shot into their car, striking Statum. The driver was able to provide investigators with physical descriptions of the suspects, as well as a phone number and license plate number for one of them, which proved crucial to the investigation.
Through the use of search warrants for mobile devices and phone records, law enforcement was able to identify the suspects. Eyewitnesses later positively identified Brandon Glover as the shooter from a photo lineup. The diligent work of the detectives led to Glover's arrest. He was subsequently charged with a litany of offenses, including malice murder, four counts of felony murder, aggravated assault, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
On March 15, 2024, a jury found Brandon Glover guilty on all charges. Following the verdict, a Superior Court Judge sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole, with an additional 45 years to be served. The sentencing brought a measure of closure to the family and friends of Thadeus Statum, who was a father to a young daughter and was awaiting the birth of his second child at the time of his murder.
