Georgia officer convicted of murdering teen who vanished walking home

A Georgia jury convicted a police officer of murdering a 16-year-old girl who disappeared while walking home from an apartment complex in July 2022, according to ABC News.

The conviction of Miles Bryant, 22, a courtesy officer at Sterling Glen Apartments in Norcross, drew national attention after ABC's "20/20" program featured the case May 8, spotlighting how a position of public trust was weaponized against a vulnerable teenager.

Susana Morales was last seen leaving Sterling Glen Apartments in Norcross on the night of July 26, 2022, after visiting a friend, according to ABC News. She was expected to be home in about 15 minutes. A location-tracking app detected her phone moving at 40 mph in the opposite direction from her home shortly after she left.

Her skeletal remains were found in February 2023 — about seven months after she vanished — in a wooded area more than 20 miles from the apartment complex. Investigators recovered fingernails painted black, consistent with what she wore that night, along with a black Glock 19 pistol found roughly 30 yards away.

Bryant, who worked as a courtesy officer at the complex and had prior contact with Morales there, reported that same handgun stolen from his vehicle the morning after she disappeared, ABC News reported. Cell phone records placed him at the crime scene on the night of her disappearance and the following morning. Investigators also found internet search history on his devices related to body decomposition.

Homicide Detective Angela Carter, who led the interrogation, told ABC News that Bryant's composure broke when she confronted him about the gun. "At that point, when I told him we found his gun, he does start shaking a little bit more," Carter said. "Interviewing him was just so frustrating because this poor girl didn't deserve this. She didn't. I just wanted him to take responsibility and actually tell us what happened."

Witnesses described Bryant's earlier behavior with underage girls at the complex. Susana's friend Alyssa Marvin testified that Bryant had previously offered drugs and rides to minors. "He wanted to drink with me before he knew my age. But he still offered the edibles," Marvin told ABC News, adding: "We said no because, 'We're underage, you're grown.'"

A jury found Bryant guilty of malice murder, felony murder, kidnapping and filing a false police report. He was sentenced to life without parole plus 12 months. A Georgia court denied his motion for a new trial in March 2026, according to ABC News. Special Prosecutor Brandon Delfunt called Bryant a "monster with a badge" during closing arguments. Defense Attorney Tracy Drake had argued at trial, "Is there any evidence of malice and murder? There is not."

Susana's sister, Jasmine Perez, told ABC News she wants the teenager remembered as more than a victim. "I want her to be remembered by her laugh, that she was a beautiful girl and at the end of the day, she was just a sister, a daughter, a friend, and that night, she was on the way home and nobody had the right to take that away from her," Perez said.