JOHNSON COUNTY, Ga. — In this beautiful garden sit two graves that aren't supposed to exist.
"I'd rather trade places with her any day of the week,” Will Newsome said, looking at the plots.
One of them belongs to his daughter, Destiney Kight.
The other grave is her boyfriend, Charles ‘CJ’ Garrett. They were both 18 years old.
Kight's mom, Tosha Newsome, says the start of her daughter's life was as much of a surprise as its end.
“I was planning on just having two children and then here comes Destiney,” Newsome laughed.
She said that there was a lot of life in her small body.
“She was talented, she was gorgeous inside and out. She loved her family and she had a laugh that was just contagious,” she said. “She wasn’t a typical teenager– she didn’t do a lot of hanging out unless it was at the house,” Newsome explained.
Destiney then met Charles.
“Had a crush on her all the way through elementary school, middle school, and high school and absolutely adored her,” Newsome explained.
She said she allowed Garrett to live with them until the couple got their own place.
“He was actually given a house by his father. It was in pretty bad shape, so they had gutted it, and was re-doing it. They was planning on moving into it and that’s where they died,” she said.
On the morning of April 23, 2021, Newsome said she got a call from Kight as she did every day.
“They were going to get furniture for their house and flooring and she was all excited about that,” Newsome explained.
She says a relative called her husband, Will, to ask if they heard the news that someone was killed around the couple’s new house.
Newsome called Destiney to ask.
“I called her and she didn’t answer the phone, which was odd. She always answers the phone,” she said.
Then 10 minutes went by with no response to calls or texts.
“She loved her momma, and if her momma called, she answered. If she couldn't answer, she'd text me and when there was no response, I just knew it was her," she said.
According to the Johnson County Sheriff's office, Kight and Garrett were shot to death on Paul Lord Road.
Newsome says life has been a living hell since then.
“It just wasn't supposed to happen, and I will probably never understand why it happened,” Newsome said.
The sheriff's office arrested suspect Daniel Payton Brinson three days later. He was charged with two counts of malice murder.
“Daniel and my son was very good friends throughout middle school, high school. He slept at my house, he ate at my kitchen table. So, when the sheriff had called me and told me they had made an arrest, I was shocked,” she explained.
Newsome says her daughter's homicide is still under investigation. She says when her daughter’s life ended, their lives have been put on hold ever since.
“It’s all you think about,” Newsome said. “You’re scared to take vacations because you don’t know if you’re going to have court. Basically, I just want answers. I just want to know why their lives weren’t important? Because they were."
It also makes you think about the events and memories that now will never be able to be made.
"You know these were just two kids. They were going to get married. I'll never pick out her wedding dress," Newsome said. "So, they didn't just take their lives, they took our lives."
She says she doesn't want her daughter or Garrett to be forgotten.
“There are so many people who loved her, and then there are so many people who will never have the chance to meet her. That breaks my heart,” Newsome said. “I just want everyone to know who Destiney was and that she didn't deserve it. CJ didn't deserve it. She was just too beautiful for this ugly world and I believe it."
Brinson was indicted by a Johnson County grand jury in September of 2021. We reached out to the sheriff's office for an update on the investigation and they've not responded.
MORE THAN A NUMBER
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