A Cobb County judge denied bond Friday for an 18-year-old accused of killing and dismembering a Smyrna woman after investigators say he found her phone number on an escort website.
Kingston Bradley faces a murder charge in the death of 26-year-old Shanteria Mosley, whose remains authorities discovered in late September. The judge also found probable cause to send the case to Superior Court.
Mosley’s mother pleaded with the judge to keep Bradley behind bars. She read a prepared statement but became so overwhelmed that, according to local reports, she had to leave the courtroom.
Prosecutors argued that Bradley would pose a danger to the community if released, WSB-TV reported. One prosecutor described the killing as “so, so heinous” and told the judge, “That is someone who can never be trusted out on bond.”
During the hearing, Smyrna Detective Nathaniel Wachowiak detailed evidence investigators found inside Bradley’s apartment, including a power saw, a bloody handsaw and blood throughout much of the home.
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Wachowiak testified that investigators found no evidence Bradley and Mosley knew each other before the day she died. The detective says Bradley obtained the woman’s phone number from an escort website. A prosecutor described the case as a “stranger-on-stranger” killing.
According to an arrest warrant, Mosley’s relatives tracked her phone to the apartment complex while searching for her. They encountered Bradley with a tub containing a woman’s torso and recognized a tattoo on the remains, prompting them to call police.
An autopsy determined that Mosley had been shot in the head between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. on Sept. 23. A warrant supporting Bradley’s malice murder charge also described cuts and stab wounds on her torso.
Inside the apartment, investigators noticed a strong smell of bleach and found empty cleaning bottles, a mop, a bucket and a carpet cleaner, Wachowiak testified. He said someone ordered trash bags and bleach through Bradley’s DoorDash account that day.
Investigators later discovered additional remains wrapped in trash bags in the trunk of the rental car Mosley had been driving.
Wachowiak also testified that a photo found on Bradley’s phone showed Mosley’s dismembered body in his bedroom.
The hearing raised questions about what Bradley’s father knew that evening. According to Wachowiak, Bradley’s girlfriend told investigators she was on FaceTime with him when his father arrived home.
“She overheard Kenneth say to Kingston, ‘There’s a body in here. What did you do? Get rid of it,’” Wachowiak testified.
Bradley’s father faces no charges. Authorities have not said whether they plan to charge him. The detective said the father initially spoke with police but has since stopped cooperating with investigators.
Wachowiak also testified that Bradley’s father told police his son had received diagnoses of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and had not been taking his medication. That account came from his father’s statement to investigators.
Authorities initially charged Bradley with concealing the death of another before adding the murder charge, according to 11 Alive.
For Mosley’s family, Friday’s hearing followed weeks of grief. Relatives held a vigil and released balloons in her honor after her death.
“To see how I’ve seen my baby … I will never, ever, like, be the same again,” her mother said at the vigil.
Bradley remains in the Cobb County jail. His next hearing date was unclear.
