• Publication: The Atlanta Constitution
• Author: Rebecca McCarthy, Staff Writer
• Original Publication Date: Thursday, July 9, 1992

ATHENS — Two of the three men identified as possible suspects in the case of slain University of Georgia senior Jennifer Stone have prior convictions on charges of aggravated assault and burglary, public records show.

The three — Earnest Brown, 29; Donald Wilson, 32; and Larry Darnell Brown, 34 — have been arrested in connection with the theft of two cameras from the off-campus house of Ms. Stone, who was found strangled there on April 23. They have been charged with theft by receiving, authorities said, and are being held at the Clarke County jail.

Earnest Brown, who is said not to be from Georgia, has no prior charges or convictions in Clarke County, records show, and has not been in the state corrections system.

Vince Fallin, deputy commissioner of the State Department of Corrections, said that Mr. Wilson was sentenced in 1979 on a burglary charge and that he served 18 months in prison and completed five years probation.

Larry Brown was sentenced to five years in prison and 10 years probation for an aggravated assault conviction in Baldwin County, Mr. Fallin said. In October 1990, he was released from prison onto parole, and in March 1991, was discharged from parole to begin probation.

He was subsequently convicted of drug possession in Fulton County and placed on probation in August 1991. Warrants are pending for violating probation in both cases.

‘Pursuing most aggressively’

“Right now, these are people we’re pursuing most aggressively with the State Crime Lab,” said Athens-Clarke County Police Chief Ronald Chandler, adding that blood, hair samples and fingerprints have been sent to the lab for DNA analysis.

Both Mr. Wilson and Larry Brown are listed as homeless by police. At the time of his arrest, Earnest Brown was living ina remodeled North Newton Street residence housing several apartments, across Broad Street from the Ramada Inn, police said.

“I know [Earnest Brown] had a good job, he worked on computers, but I don’t know if he kept it,” said a tenant in the same apartment building who asked not to be named. “I really don’t know much about his personal life, or where he would hang out, but he was always friendly to me. He wasn’t from Athens, he was from up North somewhere.”

Police said that no evidence but the cameras allegedly links the three men to the crime scene, a small house on the corner of Clayton and Hull streets in downtown Athens, near the city bus station. Chief Chandler characterized them only as possible suspects in Ms. Stone’s slaying.

Crime Lab officials have said that Ms. Stone, who lived alone, was killed in her home between the evening of April 22 and the morning of April 23. Her body was discovered the evening of April 23 by friends who became concerned when she missed a scheduled appointment.

Police said Wednesday that in the early hours of April 23, the three men allegedly sold Ms. Stone’s Canon and Nikon cameras, for $50 and $20, to two other people. Authorities believe the cameras were taken directly from the student’s residence, Chief Chandler said.

During a July 1 drug raid at a north Clarke County residence, police saw one of Ms. Stone’s missing cameras, and through interviews, traced the camera to Earnest Brown, who was arrested that night, Chief Chandler said.

A second camera was later recovered in neighboring Oglethorpe County. Mr. Wilson, known on the street as “Heavy,” who was then in custody at the Clarke County jail, was charged. Larry Brown was arrested and charged Tuesday night, Chief Chandler said.

The two people who had the cameras have not been charged, police said. Officers developed a roll of film, mostly shot by Ms. Stone, that was in the Nikon when it was taken. The photos are mostly of her friends, and though the last few frames were shot by someone else, these pictures don’t link the purchaser to the crime scene, Chief Chandler said.

The cameras are being sent to the State Crime Lab, he added.

[Photo caption] UGA student Jennifer Stone was found strangled April 23 at her off-campus house.