Bryan Brown called his husband Philippe Bertrand late at night to tell him he was heading back home. Brown had spent the day in his hometown of Blakely, where the couple planned to expand their photography business by opening a second studio. On his way back into the Atlanta area, he stopped by their primary studio in East Point. He told Bertrand he would see him soon, but he never walked through the front door.
Sometime shortly after 3 a.m. on February 10, 2023, Brown was inside his car in South Fulton, Georgia. Sitting in the car with him was Mamadi Sylla. According to court warrants, Sylla pulled out a gun and shot Brown directly in the head. Investigators say Sylla then grabbed Brown’s iPhone off him before escaping into the night, a move police believe was done specifically to erase any record of messages between the two men.
When Bertrand woke up the next morning and realized his husband had not returned, panic set in. He called and texted Brown repeatedly without getting an answer, so he got in his car to look for him. While Bertrand was out driving the streets, an alert popped up on his phone from their home security system showing police officers standing outside their front door. Officers soon delivered the news that Brown had been found dead inside his car, which was backed into a parking spot at the Wells Fargo bank off Old National Highway along Old Bill Cook Road.
Friends and family immediately knew something was wrong even before police confirmed the body. Brown’s best friend, Samuel Chatman, had gone to check on the couple’s East Point studio. When Chatman stepped inside, he found papers scattered across the room, candles still burning on the tables, and the security alarm left disarmed. For a meticulous man like Brown, leaving a studio in that state was completely out of character.
The physical evidence at the scene pointed toward something far more complex than a standard robbery. Although Brown’s iPhone was missing from the car, his expensive diamond wedding ring was still on his finger. Sylla had left the jewelry behind, choosing only to take the device that held their private communications. That detail gave investigators a critical clue that the shooter was trying to cover up a connection rather than just steal valuables.
For over three years, the case seemed to sit without answers, leaving Brown’s loved ones demanding justice. Earlier this year, South Fulton police and Crime Stoppers released grainy security video showing a figure running away from Brown’s parked car in the dark while holding a gun. Detectives kept digging into the lead until they finally secured arrest warrants on September 2, laying out the timeline of what happened inside the vehicle that night.
On September 4, police arrested Mamadi Sylla and booked him on a long list of charges, including murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery, tampering with evidence, and firearm possession during a felony. While Sylla prepares for his first court hearing on October 6, police still have not revealed how the two men knew each other or why Sylla was in the car. For Bertrand and those who loved Brown, the arrest brings a long-awaited step toward accountability, even as the ultimate motive remains unanswered.
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