Briana Winston, inset, was murdered March 17, 2024. Clayton County Police Department detectives said her boyfriend Michale Edwards, left, and his wife, Brienna Phillips-Edwards, right, were arrested along with his brother and mom. (Clayton County Police Department)
A man choked his girlfriend to death in Georgia after she confronted him about secretly marrying another woman, then stuffed her body in a suitcase and drove to Tennessee where they burned her body and discarded her remains in two different areas, according to police. His family helped cover his tracks, police said.
Clayton County police arrested Michale Edwards for murder in the death of Briana Winston at their apartment in College Park, Georgia. Clayton County Police Lt. Ashanti Marbury said at a press conference on Monday that Edwards showed up to the apartment early in the morning on March 17 and the two began arguing about his infidelity when he strangled her.
This is when Edwards, 23, allegedly enlisted the help of his wife, brother and mother to help cover his tracks.
“It turned into a family affair. He definitely looped everyone into this crime,” Marbury said.
After Edwards allegedly stuffed Winson’s body into a suitcase, his wife Brienna Phillips-Edwards let him use his car to drive to a man’s house in Tennessee. Once there, the man and Edwards doused the suitcase with gasoline and lit it on fire, Marbury said. The blaze lasted for several hours, according to Marbury. Then Edwards and the other man allegedly dumped portions of her body in a cemetery and along a road.
Marbury said prosecutors gave the man who helped Edwards burn Winston’s body immunity in exchange for information leading to the arrests of Edwards and his family members. Cops arrested Edwards on an unrelated aggravated stalking charge on April 8. While in jail, Edwards reportedly called Phillips-Edwards and told her to burn his shoes and a pair of gloves. His wife, along with his brother Keilan Wright, 18, and his mother, 40-year-old Ebony Anderson, allegedly burned the items to destroy evidence.
Phillips-Edwards is facing charges of conspiracy to commit a crime and party to commission of a crime. Edwards’ brother and mom are facing conspiracy charges.
Winston’s family reported her missing on April 1, the Clayton County Police Department said. The family went to her apartment and found that Edwards, the father of her 4-year-old child, had completely cleaned out their apartment, according to police. One family member told Atlanta Fox affiliate WAGA that the apartment reeked of bleach. Her family also learned that she never showed up to work on March 17.
By April 26, police felt they had enough information to determine Winston was dead, saying she was the “victim of a crime that left her incapacitated in some way.” Cops named Edwards and his wife persons of interest in the disappearance. Marbury said the investigation led them to Ripley, Tennessee, about 430 miles from the murder scene, where they recovered Winston’s body at the cemetery and along the road.
The last few months have been difficult for Winston’s family.
“I’ve just been crying every night because I wasn’t there to help her,” her cousin Jasmine Walker told Atlanta News First. “I wasn’t going to sleep until she was found, and I’m not going to give up until justice is served.”
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