• Publication: Athens Daily News / Athens Banner-Herald (combined Saturday edition)
• Author: Joan Stroer and Wayne Ford, Staff Writers
• Original Publication Date: Saturday, October 17, 1992

The Clarke County district attorney’s office dismissed criminal charges Friday against two of three suspects charged with possessing the stolen cameras of a University of Georgia student slain in April.

Meanwhile, in the investigation of Jennifer Stone’s slaying, police have focused their attention on a 19-year-old man who left Athens about two months after the slaying.

The man, who is serving 30 days for underage possession of alcohol, is having his fingerprints and DNA samples tested against evidence found at the crime scene, police confirmed Friday.

In court, Assistant District Attorney Rick Dickson told Clarke County Superior Court Judge Joseph Gaines that there was not sufficient evidence to prosecute the two men in connection with the cameras.

The suspects, Earnest Brown Jr., 29, and Donald Wilson, 32, both of Athens, were indicted on charges of disposing of stolen property.

Dickson said the charges against the men were weak and that there appeared to be no connection between the disposal of the stolen cameras and the slaying of Ms. Stone on April 23.

A third suspect, Larry Darnell Brown, 34, was also charged in the case but his case was not heard in court.

Athens-Clarke police detectives had alleged that the three were in possession of Ms. Stone’s cameras just hours after her slaying.

Authorities said that after the suspects’ arrest, Earnest Brown told police in a taped interview that he knew the cameras were stolen because he knew that no one sells a $700 camera for $20 or $25.

As for Wilson, Dickson said: “As far as we know, Wilson never had his hand on the property.”

Wilson’s attorney, Jan Willy of Legal Aid, said: “There was no evidence at all linking him to any part of that case (the slaying).”

Police submitted fingerprints and DNA samples on all three suspects to the State Crime Lab, but all tests were negative compared to physical evidence gathered at the crime scene, according to reports.

Police have used this procedure to eliminate a number of suspects, and are currently using it to test the most recent suspect, who was brought back to Athens on Tuesday from Shreveport, La. He is also charged with bail jumping and is being held on a $25,000 bond.

“We’ve developed him as a suspect and we’ve sent his samples to the crime lab as we do any suspect,” police Lt. Fletcher Mattox said.

Police would not call the teen a prime suspect in the slaying. Mattox said the man’s name came up a number of times during the investigation.

Court records show Mattox was charged with underage possession in June and that he did not appear in Municipal Court in July as required.

The action in Superior Court on Friday did surprise some investigators in the Stone case.

Maddox said he didn’t know the charges against Wilson and Brown were scheduled to be dismissed.

Wilson attended the court hearing, but Brown, represented by Athens attorney Larry Blount, did not appear in court.

Dickson said that Brown has joined the National Guard and already has orders to report for duty. Because of that it became important that the charge against him be disposed, Dickson said.

Dickson said both suspects were subjected to numerous interviews by police and that they have been cooperative.