In the spring of 2017, the life of 26-year-old Lavonta Milton Thomas was cut short in Columbus, Georgia. Thomas, a man who had accepted Christ at the age of 16 and attended Jordan High School, passed away on Monday, May 1, 2017, at the Midtown Medical Center. He was born in Columbus on April 10, 1991.
For nearly three years, the circumstances surrounding Thomas's death remained without a public resolution. Then, on March 13, 2020, an arrest was made in connection with the 2017 shooting.
Labrandon Brown was taken into custody and charged with the murder of Lavonta Thomas, bringing a new development to the long-unanswered case.
Despite the arrest, the legal process that followed was slow. By December 2021, Brown had been incarcerated for over 600 days without an indictment from the Muscogee County grand jury. During a court hearing, a judge denied a request for his release on bond with certain conditions, though his bail was reduced from $175,000 to $125,000. Prosecutors attributed the delay in the indictment to the time required for the Columbus Police Department to process evidence in the case. Brown remained in jail as he awaited the progression of the legal proceedings.
