Justin Mann

Mass Murderer

Justin Mann and the 2017 Troy Quadruple Murder

Overview of the Crime

Justin C. Mann was one of two men responsible for the December 2017 murders of four people inside a basement apartment in Troy, New York. The victims were 36-year-old Shanta Myers, her two children, 11-year-old Jeremiah Myers and 5-year-old Shanise Myers, and Shanta's 22-year-old partner, Brandi Mells. The killings occurred at 158 Second Avenue in Troy and became one of the most disturbing multiple-homicide cases in the city's history. Mann committed the murders with James W. White, a man he knew from Schenectady. Investigators determined that the two men entered the apartment during the evening of December 21, 2017. Mann was acquainted with Brandi Mells, which gave the attackers a connection to the household and helped them gain access without immediately raising suspicion. What began inside the residence developed into a prolonged and calculated attack in which all four occupants were restrained and killed.

The Attack Inside the Apartment

According to evidence developed during the investigation and subsequent court proceedings, Mann and White restrained the victims using items found inside the home. Their hands and ankles were bound, and cloth was placed around or over portions of their heads and faces. The victims were unable to defend themselves or escape as the two men carried out the killings. The adults and children suffered fatal injuries involving strangulation and sharp-force trauma. The victims were killed individually inside the apartment, and the brutality directed at the two children became a central focus of public outrage. Jeremiah and Shanise were not accidental casualties of an attack aimed only at the adults. They were deliberately restrained and killed along with their mother and Mells. Prosecutors maintained that the children were murdered because they could identify the attackers. By killing every person present, Mann and White attempted to eliminate witnesses and prevent anyone from reporting what had happened. The attackers then left the four bodies inside the basement residence and departed without notifying authorities.

Discovery of the Victims

The victims were not discovered until December 26, 2017, five days after investigators determined the killings had occurred. A property manager entered the basement apartment at 158 Second Avenue and found the bodies. Troy police officers responded to the residence and immediately treated the deaths as homicides. The crime scene was so severe that Troy Police Chief John Tedesco publicly described the murders as an act of savagery. Police emphasized that the killings did not appear random and that the victims had been specifically targeted. The discovery during the Christmas holiday intensified the shock throughout Troy and the surrounding Capital Region. ...

Confirmed Victims: (4)

Shanise Myers 5 yr old Male

Convicted killer of women and children in Troy says he weighed ...