Man Gets 40 Years in Prison for Murder

EMORY — Rains County Attorney Robert F. Vititow reports Brandon Couch has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for murdering his grandmother on November 14, 2012. According to KETK, the sentence was handed down by Judge Paul Banner, the fourth judge assigned to the case. Couch had opted to have the judge impose the sentence after the jury returned a guilty verdict.

According to officials, Couch and his grandmother, Mattie Couch, lived together for a number of years before the murder. According to testimony, Brandon’s mother and father would not let him live with them, so his grandmother took him in. Approximately one year before he shot his grandmother, the defendant was on drugs and scared his grandmother, the State revealed. His grandmother attempted to call 911, but the defendant pulled the phone out of the wall and shook her.

Although Mattie Couch initially filed charges against her grandson, she decided she did not want to prosecute him and refused to answer calls from the Rains County Sheriff’s Office and the County Attorney’s Office. Brandon was convicted of assault and spent six months in jail. According to Vititow, just before 3:00 p.m, November 14, 2012, Brandon shot Mattie in the chest with a 20-gauge Winchester bird shot.

During the trial, Brandon Couch’s defense team declared he had attempted to commit suicide by shooting himself in the head four years before he killed his grandmother. They stated he had metal fragments in his brain from the gun that may have affected his impulses. The State shot back presenting prior convictions for drug abuse and assaulting his father. They also reminded the jury Couch had previously stabbed a person which took place prior to his suicide attempt and reported brain injury.