BYRON, Ga. — Next Monday will mark 14 years since Brenda Bryant last heard from her son, Eric Rice. He died Sept. 18, 2009.
Bryant told 13WMAZ that Rice wasn't perfect, but he did not deserve to die.
"He was no selfish person. Like, he was always a giving person," Rice's sister, Brendie Barnes, said.
A 26-year-old man, Rice was a father, a son and an uncle. Barnes is still frustrated about this situation.
"It's like every time I hear somebody got killed, it makes me so angry," Barnes said.
Bryant says her son would call her every day before she got off work. On Sept. 17, she missed his phone call.
"When I get a break and go cash my check, I'm going to call him back. 8:30 that night I did try calling my son back. I got no answer," Bryant said.
Bryant asked Barnes to call him but he didn't pick up.
On Sept. 18, Barnes heard on the news that a Black man was found dead near Byron Elementary.
Later that evening, she would come home to Byron Police, Warner Robins Police and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation at her door.
According to the Byron Police report, a woman was driving her two kids to the Bryon Elementary School. The daughter saw someone lying in the gravel just half a mile down the street from the school, the report says.
The mother didn't see who her daughter was talking about, but she turned around and saw Eric. She called the police.
"I want to reach out and tell her, I thank you," Bryant said. "I thank you for calling and report that it was a body, and that body had to be my son."
Bryant says the last time she spoke with detectives about her son's death was in 2021. She says she is no further in the case than where she was when she found out about her son's death.
She hopes the GBI and Byron Police find the shooter and don't use her son's lifestyle as an excuse to stop investigating.
"They may not have said — to me they look at it, it just a Black boy who sold drugs and the deal went sour," Bryant said.
Bryant suspects the killing was a drug deal gone wrong, but Barnes says that didn't mean her favorite brother had to die.
"You don't kill nobody and take their life, and leave them stranded like they was trash," Barnes said. "They left my brother out there stranded like he was trash."
Bryant and Barnes hope someone will step up with tips on who shot Eric Rice.
"It's been too many years. I feel like out of all these years people be getting closure of their family. We need closure," Barnes said.
13WMAZ did reach out to Byron Police for comment, they said the case is still under investigation.
MORE THAN A NUMBER
RELATED: More Than A Number: Family Form
More Than A Number is a Poynter-Stand Together award-winning project by Justin Baxley designed to help families of loved ones impacted by tragedy and trauma interact with journalists in a less intrusive way. Families are able to fill out a form about their family and also receive an in-depth guide on the next steps.
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