1 Night in Rome
An abandoned Prius set off a desperate search for its driver, Davis, leading police to the home of his friend, Brandon, in Rome, Ga., on November 12, 2022. Brandon, 21, was the last person to see Davis alive, according to police.
Brandon, who worked as a scare actor at a haunted house, was home alone at the residence he shared with his dad and stepmom when Rome police arrived to question him about his friend’s whereabouts.
“We started drinking around 12 yesterday, and we went to the bars sometime in the evening,” Brandon told the officer. “He doesn’t drink too often. He had gone upstairs and was just puking everywhere. And then I went downstairs because he was telling me to leave him alone.”
Brandon claimed a broken wine bottle was to blame for his bandaged pinky.
“I went downstairs, dropped the bottle, cut my pinky. I went to the urgent care this morning,” he explained.
Brandon said he last spoke with his friend around 10 p.m. and noticed his vehicle was gone around 1 a.m. He also claimed to have tried to get hold of Davis via cell phone with no success.
Not long after Brandon gave officers permission to search his home, they came across what appeared to be blood splatter in several places, including the ceiling, a rug and an armoire in the attic. Cleaning products were located nearby, and bloodied sheets were recovered in the dryer. Brandon overheard officers announce the incriminating discoveries, prompting him to bolt and outrunning police on a wild foot chase.
Investigators were able to get his father, Jeromy Risner, on the phone, and he arrived on the scene shortly afterward with the suspect's stepmom.
“There’s suspicion that Brandon was involved in what? Hurting Aaron or something? They’re lifelong friends,” Jeromy pleaded.
The Suspect Surrenders
Jeromy called police several hours later to say he reunited with his son, who planned to turn himself in. He also had details on where the victim’s remains were dumped.
“You need to send somebody out to find the body,” Jeromy told the detective. “I can take you out and try to show you.”
Davis was found dead with 40 stab wounds to the neck, head and torso in an unmarked grave in Rome, giving police sufficient evidence to charge Risner with murder.
During an interview with detectives, Jeromy admitted they withdrew Brandon from college earlier that year because he was having anxiety attacks and suicidal thoughts.
“He was having visions. We brought him home to make him safe,” his dad said. "He hears things, he sees things.”
Brandon pleaded guilty to several charges, including murder and aggravated assault.
Prosecutor Leah Mayo alleged the perpetrator was motivated by his desire to kill.
“He had taken edibles and witnessed a vision where he felt that he had to kill his best friend. He had those urges, he wanted to act on them, and he did,” Mayo said at Brandon’s July 2024 sentencing hearing.
In court, loved ones, including Davis's mom, Sara, delivered gut-wrenching victim impact statements.
“When Brandon stabbed Aaron to death, he ripped our hearts out. We have been so devastated by the evil actions of Brandon,” Sara said.
