Cassandra Bryant and Willie Mizell

ATL Homicide is a very popular show with two

detectives, David Quinn & Vince Velazquez who put murderers behind bars. In Season 1, episode 8 the murder of Cassandra Bryant is shown. It takes a minute, but Willie Mizell is charged with the crime.

Willie Mizell was found guilty of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, and concealing the deathof another in connection with the death of Cassandra Bryant. He was sentenced to life.

TV One describes this show as: Cassandra Bryant, 38, is found naked and barely clinging to life; she dies in the ambulance before identifying her attacker, leaving Quinn and Velazquez to find her killer.

His appeal (see link) includes:

On the day after the crimes, Mizell gave a statement to the police, in which he claimed that Stanley Brealand had borrowed his apartment and committed the murder.   Later that month, the lead investigator sent numerous items of evidence to the GBI crime lab, including the cigarette butts from the apartment and the dumpster, DNA samples from Mizell and Brealand, and a piece of carpet taken from Mizell's apartment.   On March 1, 2004, Mizell filed a general motion to preserve and permit testing of physical evidence.   Later in March, the GBI returned the evidence to the Atlanta Police Department, with the note that “[t]his case may contain evidence that must be preserved in accordance with OCGA § 17–5–56.” ¹  In June 2004, Mizell filed a particularized motion to preserve and test physical evidence, specifically listing the two sets of cigarette butts.

In December 2004, apparently unaware that the cigarette butts were no longer in the possession of the GBI crime lab, the State obtained an order from the trial court directing the crime lab to conduct DNA testing of the dumpster cigarette butts.   The order noted that the “[t]he State contends that this evidence is material in its prosecution of this case.”   The crime lab, however, indicated that it no longer had the cigarette butts and that it would conduct the test upon receiving the butts from the State.

You can write to Willie Mizell at:

Willie Mizell 276284
Central State Prison

4600 Fulton Mill Road

Macon Ga 31208

You can email Willie using Jpay - you will need to select Georgia and the ID 276284

If you have firsthand knowledge of Cassandra Bryant or Willie Mizell, feel free to comment in the sections below.

Resources