In the quiet community of Griswoldville, Georgia, a horrifying discovery shattered the peace on April 23, 1998. Eleven-year-old Bryan Moss, along with his 15-year-old sister Kristin and their 37-year-old father Steven, were found brutally murdered in their own home. The family's matriarch, Gerri Ann Moss, made the traumatic discovery upon returning from work, finding a scene of unimaginable violence that would forever alter her life and send shockwaves through the close-knit town.
The
subsequent investigation revealed that two men, Brandon Joseph Rhode, 18, and Daniel Anthony Lucas, 19, had broken into the Moss residence with the intention of burglary. The situation escalated tragically when Bryan unexpectedly arrived home from school, followed shortly by his sister and then his father. In a desperate attempt to eliminate witnesses, Rhode and Lucas subjected the family to a terrifying ordeal that ended in their execution-style slayings. Bryan was the first to be shot, suffering an initial non-fatal wound before being fatally shot multiple times. His sister and father were also shot and killed.
The investigation swiftly led to the identification and arrest of Rhode and Lucas. Evidence found at their residences, along with their own videotaped confessions, painted a grim and detailed picture of the horrific events that transpired in the Moss home. Both men were charged with multiple counts of malice murder, felony murder, burglary, and kidnapping with bodily injury.
Their trials resulted in convictions, and both Brandon Joseph Rhode and Daniel Anthony Lucas were sentenced to death for their heinous crimes. After years of appeals, the sentences were carried out. Rhode was executed by lethal injection on September 21, 2010, and Lucas met the same fate on April 27, 2016, bringing a final, somber chapter to a case that had long haunted Jones County.
