Ryan Brunn, an apartment groundskeeper, was convicted of molesting and murdering the 7-year-old Canton girl two days ago, and reports are that he committed suicide Thursday (January 19, 2012), two days after he was sentenced in Cherokee County to spend life in prison without parole.
Jorelys disappeared December 2, 2011, when she took a break from playing at the apartment complex on River Ridge Drive. She reportedly told other children at the playground that she was going inside to get drinks, but never returned.
Brunn pleaded guilty Tuesday to enticing the young girl into a vacant unit at the River Ridge Apartments in Canton to molest her.
He cut her throat, beat her over the head with a roller skate and discarded her lifeless body in a trash compactor before calmly joining his roommate and a female friend for a night of shopping and pot smoking.
According to the AJC, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections confirmed late Thursday evening that 20-year-old Ryan Brunn was found unresponsive in his cell at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson at 4:15 p.m.
He was taken to a local hospital and was pronounced dead at 5:37 p.m. The case has been referred to the GBI for further investigation.
There are mixed emotions surrounding Brunn’s untimely death. Some feel that there was foul play involved while others feel that a death by his own hands gave Brunn an easy exit.
James McCollum, who lives upstairs from the apartment where Brunn killed Jorelys Rivera, said he had been following the case and the sentencing this week.
“As far as I?m concerned, he got off easy,? McCollum said.
?He didn?t suffer enough. When you hear how he beat her to death with her own skate, he didn?t suffer enough.?
But Nancy Hudgins, another resident of the complex, said she feels as sorry for Brunn?s family as he does for the Riveras.
?His mind wasn?t right, but I feel kind of sad for the person because he was a human being,? she said. ?I don?t see how he could have done that.?
I don’t think Brunn would have lasted too long in prison anyway. It’s a well known fact that inmates don’t take kindly to Child Molesters in prison.? Being as though Brunn actually CONFESSED to the disturbing details of his crime against the young girl, there were speculations that there were other victims.
And now we may never know.? It’s a disturbing situation all the way around.