Ryan Brunn, the 20-year-old former maintenance worker for the River Ridge Apartment Complex accused of murdering 7-year-old Jorelys Rivera, was found dead in his prison cell Thursday, just two days following his arrival at a state penitentiary.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesperson John Bankhead announced just after 2 p.m., Jan. 20, that the confessed killer hanged himself with his sweatshirt.

The cause of death was ruled “ligature hanging” and the manner of death was deemed a suicide. No additional “significant” trauma was found on Brunn’s body.

“The GBI agent involved in the investigation and a Department of Corrections (DOC) investigator attended the autopsy and conferred with the medical examiner on their investigative findings,” Bankhead said.

Prior to being transported to Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, Bankhead said Brunn was interviewed by GBI agents for “a couple of hours” and showed “no indications of being suicidal.”

According to Georgia DOC spokesperson Gwendolyn Hogan, Brunn arrived at the prison around 8:45 p.m., Jan. 17, and was placed in a segregation cell for his own safety.

Hogan said Brunn was interviewed by mental health staff the next day and was not placed on a suicide watch based on the counselor’s findings. He remained in an individual cell up until his suicide just after 4 p.m. Jan. 19.  He was pronounced dead at 5:37 p.m. that same evening at a hospital near the prison in Jackson.

“It only takes a few minutes for the inmate to do what Brunn did,” Bankhead said. “If a prisoner wants to commit suicide, (they) will find a way.”

Cherokee County Sheriff Roger Garrison confirmed that Brunn was considered a “high-risk inmate” at the Cherokee Adult Detention Center after his Dec. 7 arrest due to the charges against him and the severity of the offense.

Garrison further said that Brunn was put on suicide watch at the county jail until law enforcement officers learned more about his personality. Brunn also had no known prior criminal record; therefore, Garrison said they needed to see how he would react to jail.

“As he got acclimated to his surroundings, that status was relaxed,” Garrison said, adding that by the time Brunn pleaded guilty, he was no longer on suicide watch.

Brunn also never threatened or attempted suicide while in the county jail, Garrison added.

Child murderer sentenced to life

Brunn’s fate was determined last week after pleading guilty to murder and other charges. Chief Superior Court Judge Frank C. Mills III sentenced Brunn on Jan. 17 to life in prison with no opportunity for parole.

“We came to a resolution and this is an appropriate end; it brings closure,” said Cherokee County District Attorney Garry Moss in a press conference following the hearing. “Never have I seen a case of this magnitude in Cherokee County. It has affected all of us.”

Mills said in court that it was “uncommon” for a case of this degree to be culminated so quickly, as less than two months had lapsed since Brunn was arrested.

The defendant’s counsel said their client agreed to enter into the plea agreement, which included receiving the maximum sentence for child molestation, aggravated assault and battery, as well as enticing a child for indecent purposes, false imprisonment, sexual exploitation of a child and abandonment of a dead body, charges handed down in a 13-count Grand Jury indictment earlier this month.

The child molestation charge was reduced from an original charge of aggravated child molestation, as Brunn said under oath last week that he did not touch the girl in a sexual manner.

Although Brunn took his own life, Mills’ order had many residents asking, “why not the death penalty?” after the hearing.

Moss sat down with the Ledger-News this week and answered that question.

“Had he not pleaded guilty, we would have gone in a different direction,” he said. “Ryan Brunn had a very small window of opportunity; he was either going to plead guilty on the day he did or I would have filed the death penalty notice that day. I had it prepared and ready to file.”

While Moss did not have monetary figures, as each case could differ, he said the average cost to maintain a maximum-security prisoner, compared to a death-row prisoner, is considerably less.

“But, those aren’t the reasons I made my decision,” he continued. “It’s hard to convince a jury of 12 … if one holds out, then it results in the court having to make the decision.”

According to the most recent report from the DOC, the average length of time spent on death row is 15 years. It costs $18,250 per prison per year ($50 per day) to house an inmate in the state prison system (FY 2010). The current total of death row prisoners could not be confirmed by press time.

Moss said, however, that his decision to enter into the plea was not based on cost. “Had Brunn chosen to not plead guilty, the death penalty would have been the only outcome; however, he chose to admit his guilt,” Moss said. “Many would believe that a life subject to the torture of prison would have been a greater punishment than death.  The end result is the same — he died in prison and he would have died in prison.”

GBI Director Vernon Keenan, Garrison, former Canton Police Chief Jeff Lance and the slain child’s mother, Joselinne Rivera, also agreed with Moss’ decision to accept a plea.

“Had anyone objected, I would not have done this,” Moss said. “It’s important that we stay united; I would not have chosen this decision without their support.”

Brunn admits his guilt

Prior to being handed down a life sentence for the brutal murder of Jorelys, Brunn explained the commission of the crime to the judge last week, starting with details leading up the slaying.

“I was working that day at 100 River Ridge Drive … I came across a roller skate and thought I would lure her in myself. I don’t know why; I didn’t have planned intentions of doing that before (that day),” Brunn said.

He continued by saying he had seen the young child at least one time before skating around the complex, but said he was not aware of her name and had never spoken to her before.

The defendant did, however, know that the child lived with her family in Building 9000.

“I don’t know why I settled on this child,” Brunn said.

While performing maintenance duties on Building 10000, Brunn said he decided to lure the child in for “sexual pleasure.” He said this particular building came to mind because he knew it was vacant, as he had been assigned to remove furniture left behind by previous tenants when he started working for the complex in November 2011.

According to his statements in court, Brunn took a photo of the skate with his cell phone and put the skate in the unlocked vacant apartment located in Building 10000; Jorelys was later murdered in the bathroom of this unit.

After planting the skate in the unit, roughly one hour prior to the murder, Brunn said he went to the building where the child lived and began bleaching the breezeway. He told the judge Jorelys was on the playground at that time.

When Jorelys was headed back to her family’s apartment Friday, Dec. 2, at approximately 4:30 p.m., Brunn said he showed the girl the photo of the skate and asked if it was hers. She reportedly said it was and followed Brunn into the vacant unit, where he said that he demanded her to disrobe, adding he had not planned to kill her, but “freaked out,” and was afraid the girl would tell her mother what had happened, as Jorelys had asked to go home.

“I got so scared because of what I was doing,” Brunn said. “I never had an idea of killing a child in my life.”

Brunn said he secured her arms behind her back with plastic ties and stuffed her mouth with a rag “for yelping purposes.”

“I didn’t want her to tell her mom and dad on me so I just ... I cut her,” he said, describing the tool he used as a razor-type knife used to cut carpet.

Jorelys survived that attack.

Brunn said he then bludgeoned the child at least five times with the roller skate.

Autopsy results revealed that the child died of blunt force trauma to the head.

Brunn said he took Jorelys’ body, which was wrapped in a bed sheet, loaded it onto a golf cart and dumped it in the trash compactor, along with gloves, the razor-type knife and other items associated with the crime.

He said he returned to the trash compactor multiple times throughout the weekend to run the machine.

The night of her murder, Brunn said he went to Walmart with his roommate and a friend. Upon returning around 8 p.m., he said he saw that a search had begun for Jorelys.

“Being the idiot that I am, I helped look for the child,” he said, adding he smoked marijuana prior to going to Walmart.

He also said he smoked marijuana during his lunch break, but  said he was not high when he killed Jorelys.

Brunn further admitted to other drug use, saying he smoked methamphetamine throughout the weekend.

Brunn continued his explanation in court, saying he was paranoid over the growing presence of police at the complex, and he left a handwritten note taped to the trash compactor that said “the girl is in the trash,” which GBI officials discovered Monday, prompting the relocation of the container off-site.

GBI agents questioned Brunn Monday regarding his whereabouts that Friday; he lied and said he had not gone to the compactor that day.

A multi-agency task force arrested Brunn Dec. 7 with “sufficient evidence,” including his and her DNA found in the apartment and on the tools used in the commission of the crime. Upon searching Brunn’s apartment, investigators also discovered Internet searches on his roommates’ computer for child pornography, which Brunn admitted in court were his own searches.

In the courtroom last week, Moss read a note written by Joselinne Rivera, who was seen sobbing  and visibly shaking, that said she’ll “have to live with this pain the rest of her life” and said she “doesn’t wish evil on anyone, but hopes Brunn suffers.”

Brunn, who appeared laidback and unremorseful in court last week, apologized, saying, “I do regret everything.”

Keenan said Brunn’s demeanor during the sentencing was telling.

“He was displaying the actions of a sociopathic killer,” he said. “He is cold and deserves no sympathy; his demeanor in court verified that. He said it himself, he knows the difference between right and wrong. … Brunn was exposed as the monster he is.”

David Cannon Sr., one of Brunn’s attorneys, told reporters his client was remorseful.

Keenan also said investigators had linked Brunn to other alleged molestations in and out of the state.