Facebook / Alabama Department of Corrections Michael and Cindy Reese (left) and Jeffrey Brown (right)
Jeffrey David Brown is a former pastor who was accused of helping his girlfriend Cindy Reese kill her husband Michael Reese in 2015. On February 18, 2015, Cindy and Michael Reese returned home from church but only moments after, Cindy Reese shot her husband in the head, AL.com reported.
She then went to Piggly Wiggly to pick up groceries, returned home and staged the house to look like they had been robbed before calling 911. However, during Reese’s trial, the court heard that 911 tapes showed Reese was speaking to someone else as the call connected to 911, AL.com wrote. She was heard telling that person that her phone was about to die. The prosecution presented cellphone records showing that the person with her was Brown.
Less than a month after Michael Reese’s death, Brown and Cindy Reese were arrested and charged with his murder.
Where is Jeffrey Brown today? Is he in prison?
He Pleaded Guilty in Exchange for a Lesser Charge of Manslaughter & Was Sentenced to 20 Years
FacebookSardis Baptist Church in Morris, Alabama, where Brown served as pastor
Brown pleaded guilty in August 2016 before going to trial, agreeing to the charge of manslaughter with a 20-year sentence, according to Christian Post. His plea deal also required him to testify in his former girlfriend’s trial. The outlet reported that Brown is a former marine and corrections officer.
According to public records with the Alabama Department of Corrections, Brown was sentenced to 20 years in prison for manslaughter on December 16, 2016. He is serving his sentence at Staton Correctional Center, a medium custody correctional facility west of Wetumpka, Alabama, with a capacity of 1376 inmates.
Brown will be eligible for parole in 2023, his inmate record indicates.
Brown, Who Had Left His Position as Pastor Before Michael Reese’s Murder, Testified for the Prosecution in Cindy Reese’s Trial
Christian Post reported in 2017 that Brown was named senior pastor at Sardis Baptist Church in Morris, Alabama, about three years prior to the murder but only served in that role for about a year. A member of the church, Diane Howard, told WVTM that Brown was initially brought in because the church believed a young pastor could appeal to younger members. She said, “We got his resume and I just thought, we all thought that being young, with the young members it would appeal to them more.”
However, Brown began an affair with Cindy Reese, the church’s director of music. He also baptized Michael Reese during his time as pastor, the outlet reported. The church soon found out about Brown and Reese’s affair but Brown resigned instead of speaking to the church leaders about it. “They were going to have a meeting with him and instead of facing the deacons one Sunday morning, he chose to get up and resign,” Howard told WVTM.
Brown eventually testified at Reese’s trial as part of his plea deal and told the jury that Reese wanted to kill her husband and frequently spoke about it, even going so far as to ask Brown to hire hitmen. Brown said he attempted to hire two men he knew but they turned him down. Reese was found guilty and sentenced to 40 years in prison, AL.com reported.
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