MARIETTA, Ga. – Ronald Lee Kyles, now 62, has been returned to the county where he allegedly raped and murdered a mother and her 13-year-old daughter more than 30 years ago to stand trial.
Cobb County District Attorney Vic Reynolds, Cobb Sheriff Neil Warren and Marietta Police Chief Dan Flynn announced that Kyles, who was charged in a 1986 double rape and murder, was extradited to Cobb County to face several charges.
In November 2015, Kyles was served with an arrest warrant charging him with the rapes and murders of Sharon Brady and her teenage daughter, Samantha, who were found dead in their Marietta, Ga., apartment at 132 Cole St., on Sept. 12, 1986. Sharon’s 3-year-old daughter was also in the apartment, but was unharmed.
At the time of his arrest, Kyles was serving time in a Pennsylvania state prison on an unrelated aggravated assault conviction.
The Cobb Grand Jury indicted him in January 2016, charging Kyles with two counts of malice murder, eight counts of felony murder, burglary, two counts of rape, two counts of aggravated assault, aggravated sodomy and aggravated child molestation.
Kyles tried to fight his extradition to Georgia, but last month, Gov. Nathan Deal and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf signed an executive agreement to return Kyles to Georgia to face his numerous charges. Cobb Sheriff’s deputies traveled to Pennsylvania and returned Kyles to the Cobb County Adult Detention Center, where he was booked Thursday night.
In 1986, Marietta Police investigated the case, but did not have enough evidence to make an arrest. Twenty-seven years later, in 2013, Reynolds formed a Cold Case Unit within his office and invited the Marietta Police Department as well as all other local law enforcement agencies to participate in a review of unsolved murders and sex crimes.
“I think this case is the example of why we have a Cold Case Unit. It was the case that law enforcement never forgot, we just needed another set of eyes on it,” Reynolds said.
Marietta Police Deputy Chief Marty Ferrell agreed.
“The Cold Case Unit is a force multiplier in bringing criminals to justice,” he said, thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice awarded to the Cold Case Unit in 2014 paid for forensic testing preserved in Kyles’ case.
It was that DNA evidence that was used to identify him as the perpetrator.
“Since forming the Cold Case Unit in 2013, we’ve had remarkable success in solving some of these cases thanks to the partnership we’ve developed with local law enforcement agencies such as the Marietta Police Department and the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office,” Reynolds said.
“We will never forget these cases and we look forward to being able to bring violent offenders to Court on behalf of victims and their families, who are deserving of justice. I don’t think you ever have complete closure if you’re a victim or victim's family, but this is a big first step," he said.
Warren applauded the investigative work the Cold Case Unit.
“I do not think that whenever a family member loses a loved one they can ever find closure, but hopefully this will help the Brady family in some way,” Warren said.
