In the early morning hours of December 30, 2018, a young man's life was tragically cut short in the parking lot of a hotel in Baxley, Georgia. Dennis William 'Dub' Bryant, a 21-year-old male and a lifelong resident of Appling County, was fatally shot at the Key West Inn on Heritage Street. The incident occurred at approximately 2:40 a.m. as Bryant was taking things out of his vehicle.
He was assaulted in the parking lot, and during the altercation, gunfire erupted, leading to his death.
The investigation into the death of Dennis Bryant, a devoted father, was a collaborative effort between the Baxley Police Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Their work quickly led to the identification and arrest of six individuals in connection with the crime. Those taken into custody were brothers Rhett Austin Wheeler and Rocky Alton Wheeler, along with Luis Jose Torres, Gabrielle Elizabeth Labaco, Catherine Layne Zipperer, and Daisy Miranda Lott. One of the suspects, Torres, sustained a non-life-threatening gunshot wound during the incident and was treated for his injury.
In the years that followed, the wheels of justice turned for those involved in Bryant's death. In June 2021, Rhett and Rocky Wheeler pleaded guilty to felony murder and attempted armed robbery. Both brothers were sentenced to life in prison, with the stipulation that they would not be eligible for parole for at least 30 years. Another of the co-defendants, Jose Torres, had previously been tried in 2019, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison. However, in 2020, he was granted a new trial after a ruling that his defense lawyer had been ineffective. The remaining three co-defendants, Labaco, Zipperer, and Lott, were also facing charges, with Lott being indicted for tampering with evidence and hindering the apprehension of a fugitive.
