Rome Man Charged with Murder

Taniesa L. Sullivan | The Weekly Ledger News | Rome News-Tribune

ROME, GA - A 21-year-old Rome man is accused of stabbing a Cumming man multiple times at his home on Collinwood Road and attempting to conceal the body.

Brandon Christopher Risner, of 1002 Collinwood Road, is charged with murder as well as felony obstruction of law enforcement officers, aggravated assault, and concealing the death of another, according to Floyd County Jail reports.

The victim has been identified by Deputy Coroner Chris Giles as Aaron William Davis, 21, of Cumming. Davis was stabbed multiple times and was identified through a Brigham Young University-Idaho identification card on his person. Giles took the body to the GBI crime lab for an autopsy on Sunday.

The men knew each other. Both men listed themselves as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and published together several short films titled "Brandon Rising" on YouTube.

Davis's father, Randy Davis, posted publicly on his social media account concerning the incident:

"Most of you have heard by now that our son Aaron was savagely taken from us. We will always love him and miss him. He was the glue in our family dynamic with special ties to each of his siblings and parents. He was loved by his friends. We are still trying to make sense of this tragedy and why this happened. He was always a kid at heart but also so smart and embraced the adulthood that he needed to. He graduated from college in April, finished his internship this summer, was so happy in having a girlfriend (and her family) that he truly loved, had just aced an entrance exam for his Master's program on the very last day that any of us had contact with him," he wrote. "We were so excited to see where his future was heading. We will miss him forever."

The investigation began at 10:41 a.m. Saturday when Rome police discovered Davis's vehicle abandoned in a ditch behind the levee at Heritage Park but were not able to locate the driver.

Rome Police contacted his family, who said he was overdue in meeting friends in Alabama. Rome Police Department release stated. "Signs of foul play were discovered at the location he was last known to have been."

Police began searching the area near Risner's Collinwood address and found Davis's body off Tumlin Drive. Criminal investigators arrived and collected crime scene evidence, and witnesses on the scene provided information that led them to identify Risner as the suspect.

When approached by police, Risner fled but later turned himself in. He was denied bond after his first appearance hearing and remained in the Floyd County Jail on Monday.