Clayton News Daily

By Johnny Jackson

jjackson@henryherald.com

A McDonough man is scheduled to appear in a Bulloch County court this month, facing assault and murder charges.

"Daryl Anthony Priestley was indicted by the February term of the Bulloch County grand jury for murder, aggravated assault, evidence tampering, and false statements," said Richard Mallard, district attorney of the Ogeechee Judicial Circuit.

Priestley pleaded not guilty during his March 24 arraignment, according to Mallard. His case was assigned to Bulloch County Superior Court Judge William Woodrum, and he is scheduled to appear in court again for an April 12 calendar call. Mallard said no trial date had been set.

Statesboro Police arrested Priestley on Dec. 22, 2009, in connection with the death of 19-year-old Brandi Danielle Davis.

Davis, a former student at Union Grove High School in McDonough, had been attending Ogeechee Technical College in Statesboro.

Statesboro Police reported that Priestley, too, was a student at nearby East Georgia College in Statesboro.

Davis was found dead on Dec. 8.

Her death was deemed a "homicide due to strangulation" by Bulloch County Coroner Jake Futch, who conducted the autopsy.

In remembrance of their former classmate, some 200 Union Grove students mourned Davis' death, during a vigil held Dec. 9.