Interrogation video allowed in 2019 Jones Co. capital murder case

PHILADELPHIA, Miss. (WDAM) - Videoed interviews were seen Wednesday by a District Eighth Circuit Court jury in the murder trial of Brandon Lee Gardner and Brooke Taylor Stringer.

Gardner and Stringer are charged with capital murder in the 2019 death of 6-month-old Roselee Stringer.

The defendants were charged in Jones County, but the trial was moved after defense attorneys asked for a change of venue.

The videos were shown on Wednesday, the third day of the trial being held in Neshoba County.

According to the Jones County District Attorney’s Office, Gardner and Stringer are on trial together on one count each of capital murder.

Leading up to the trial, several motions had been filed. The latest motion, filed on Wednesday morning by Gardner’s defense counsel, was a motion to suppress.

According to the document, the motion was entered to suppress evidence pertaining to the video and all “oral, written or taped statements” resulting from the interrogation of Gardner by law enforcement on Nov. 12, 2019.

The motion argued that the statements were obtained in violation of the defendant’s constitutional rights against self-incrimination.

Judge Dal Williamson, who is presiding as the judge over the trial, overruled the motion.

In court, non-custodial Interview videos from November 2019 with Tonya Madison, with the Jones County Sheriff’s Department, were played for both defendants.

In December 2021, charges were brought against Gardner and Stringer by the Jones County Sheriff’s Department in connection to the death of the 6-month-old. The cause of death was believed to be homicide brought on by blunt force trauma to the head, according to the district attorney’s office.

A motion for change of venue was filed by the defendant Stringer and entered into the court’s records on August 31, 2022. It was joined in by co-defendant Gardner.

The district attorney’s office said the death penalty is off the table. The maximum sentence for each defendant, if found guilty, is life in prison.

This story will be updated when more information is provided.

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