In a statement, her family said she was a victim of domestic violence and hoped her story would encourage other victims to seek help.
“With heavy hearts, we humbly return Jessica into the hands of Jesus, where we know she is now safe from her abuser,” the statement said. “Her spirit is renewed, and she is enveloped in the love she longed for so deeply while she was with us on this earth.”
Authorities say 20-year-old Jessica Barnes was strangled to death before her body was found in the woods miles from her home in South Carolina.
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Pendleton police chief Robert Crosby says this case stunned even experienced investigators.
Tuesday investigators say they conducted interviews with all 3 suspects which lasted 8 to 10 hours before they confessed to their involvement in Jessica Barnes death. Chief Crosby says the Barnes’ had marital challenges.
Brandon Barnes was charged with murder while the two roommates, Mims and Tippett, were both charged with accessory after the fact, obstruction of justice and misprision of a felony, according to the department.
Wednesday, a judge denied bond for all three suspects.
The Town of Pendleton Police Department said 20-year-old Jessica Barnes was last seen on August 1.
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Tippett is accused of witnessing the murder and helping Brandon Barnes get rid of his wife’s body. According to a probable cause affidavit, Tippett failed to tell law enforcement about the murder, and she “did admit to disposing of the victim’s body to obstruct justice of murder by defendant Brandon Barnes.”
Mims “did render assistance” to Brandon Barns “to avoid the consequences of his crime,” the affidavit said, by helping Brandon Barns dispose of Jessica Barnes’ body. She, too, admitted this to investigators, according to the affidavit. A separate affidavit says that in addition to helping Brandon Barnes get rid of Jessica Barnes’ body, Mims “did have multiple opportunities to report the murder to law enforcement and did fail to do so.”
Police in South Carolina say a woman's husband murdered her in their home — and that two housemates helped him hide her body.
lawandcrime.com