Previously in “How I Caught My Killer,” a story of a young girl being murdered shocked the viewers. Children are getting hurt by predators day by day, and the stories keep shocking us. With documentaries that shed light on the prevalence of murders, the creators are trying to spread awareness. We often see hate crimes being perpetrated against the LGBT community. Let’s see the story of Brandy Rosine.
Brandy Rosine was a 20-year-old college-going student. She lived in Youngstown, Ohio. It is a place where gay people are not widely accepted. Brandy always felt like she was alone and not accepted by the people around her. She had a hard time coming out; however, she found a few friends that were there for her and made her feel comfortable. She used to text them every day and stay glued to her phone. Krysti Horvat was one of Brandy’s friends who was very close to her and cared for her deeply. On May 17th, 2012, Brandy suddenly stopped texting her family and friends. It was a very unusual situation because she was known to be on her phone constantly. Krysti was worried about her well-being and started calling her, but she got no answer.
In the meanwhile, Brandy’s mother kept calling her too. Brandy was supposed to be at her grandparents’ house the night she disappeared, but her grandparents informed her mother that Brandy had never showed up in the first place. Anxious that she had left without her insulin kit, her mother went to the police. However, the police did not look into the case too seriously because she was an adult. Brandy was legally allowed to go anywhere she wanted, and it was too soon to declare that she was missing. The concern her family had was that she was a type-1 diabetic and did not carry her insulin kit. Her family and friends constantly were looking for any clues but had no luck until one day, Kristy got some information. Kristy got a text from one of Brandy’s friends called Reannon. She informed Kristy that she had gotten a text from Brandy in which she had mentioned where she was going.
According to the texts, Brandy was on her way to Cochranton. The question was: why? Why was she out there, and why did she want to hide that she was in Cochranton? Brandy had asked Reannon not to tell anyone about her whereabouts. She also mentioned that she had a funny feeling about going to Cochranton. Now, Brandy was someone who often used dating apps and went to different cities to meet new people. Her friends tried to warn her about the dangers of going to another city and meeting a stranger, but Brandy had a bold personality. Coming back to the story, nobody had any idea why she would go to Cochranton. Devastated that the police were not actively looking for Brandy, Kristy decided to go to the address Brandy had sent to Reannon.
On her way to the address, she had an eerie feeling. The roads led to nowhere, and the area was sketchy. The only person Brandy knew in Cochranton was Jade, her ex-girlfriend. According to Brandy’s mother, Brandy was very fond of Jade and was head over heels for her. Their relationship was not so great. They had had a bit of a falling out but got back together. But one day, Jade left Brandy and also took some of her money. She betrayed Brandy, which made her sad for months. Why would she visit Jade after getting heartbroken like this?
Before going to the address where Brandy was supposed to be, Kristy asked Jade if she had seen Brandy. Jade said she had not met Brandy and also warned Kristy about Cochranton. She said that the area was homophobic and she needed to be careful there. But since Kristy was desperate to find her friend, she went to the address regardless. Going by the GPS, Kristy stopped at an old church. It was a dead end for Kristy since she did not see any cars or signs of Brandy and was lost. She was more scared now that she had thoughts about Brandy getting lost in the woods somewhere.
Time went by, and she had to come home without getting any new information on Brandy’s whereabouts. The police then informed Brandy’s mother that they had caught a signal from Brandy’s phone in Meadville. But since the police did not keep Brandy’s case a priority, her family had to go to the location where her phone was traced. However, they still did not get anything. They were again at square one. Days had gone by without any information from the police. Brandy’s mother did not want to give up, so she and Kristy went to the location in Cochranton again. However, this time, the GPS led them to a house. Outside, they saw a man and Jade. Jade was accompanied by Ashley, who was Jade’s new girlfriend. Kristy did not think Ashley was a good person, she sensed something wrong with her. When Brandy’s mother asked them about Brandy, they said she had not come there.
After a small argument, Kristy and Brandy’s mother had to leave their place. However, that very day, Ashley’s mother called the police and informed them that there was an unknown car in their house’s garage. When the police reached their place, they discovered that the car was Brandy’s. The police asked Brandy’s mother to come and pick up the vehicle, but she said she would not touch it. She also informed the police that she had just gone to Ashley’s place and that Jade and Ashley did not mention the car. The police went back to Ashley’s place to interview them, but both girls were not at their residence. When one of the policemen was off duty and going home, he saw Jade and Ashley talking to a man. When the officer approached Jade and Ashley, Ashley kept lying about her identity. Also, near Ashley’s house, there was a secluded area where the police had dug the ground where they had spotted suspicious activity. After digging into the suspicious area, the police found Brandy’s body.
Jade and Ashley were questioned about the body, and they finally revealed the truth. Both of them had planned Brandy’s murder, and they did not feel guilty about it. In both of their diaries, they mentioned how proud they were of killing Brandy. Brandy’s family and friends never got justice, and their daughter was taken away from them cold-bloodedly. Jade and Ashley were both found guilty of murdering Brandy and sentenced to life in prison. They pleaded guilty to avoid capital punishment. However, Brandy’s family and friends wanted the death penalty since the crime was premeditated. We see that Brandy was murdered by someone she might have trusted, an ex-lover. It is a sad story that Brandy’s family and friends lost her at such a young age and to someone who was unrepentant.
