http://fox4kc.com/2014/09/03/451610/Revelation of triple homicide suspect�s name conjures up painful memories for metro mom
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. � The mother of a teenager who disappeared says she knows all too well the type of damage Brandon Howell is capable of inflicting. Howell is facing three charges of murder in the first-degree, along with dozens of other charges, following a triple-homicide Tuesday in southern Kansas City.
Fox 4 learned Howell has been accused of a long list of serious crimes over the past several years, including his acquittal in a 1999 double-murder case of two teenagers, high school sweethearts. The mother of one of those victims, 16-year-old Tabitha Brewer, spoke with Fox 4 Wednesday. Brenda Lamson says her daughter�s body has never been found.
�I know who this guy is. He�s ruthless, he�s mean, he should�ve been locked up years ago,� Lamson said.
She said hearing Howell�s name Wednesday turned her stomach, bringing back memories of a time she�d like to forget.
�This afternoon when I found out, saw it on the news at work, that he was charged with three counts of murder, it hit home. It was hard. And my heart goes out to the families,� Lamson said.
Howell was accused of murdering high school sweethearts 16-year-old Tabitha Brewer and 19-year-old Nicholas Travis in 1998. The pair was last seen in April of that year. Brewer�s body was never found, but a few days after the two disappeared, police found Travis� body buried in a shallow grave.
The case went to trial in 2009 and a jury came back with a verdict of not guilty; an acquittal that broke Lamson�s heart.
�Had he been convicted for my daughter and her boyfriend�s murder five years ago, we wouldn�t be sitting here today. And I�d like to know how those jurors feel now,� she said.
Lamson said the writing was on the wall following a crime just months after her daughter�s disappearance. In 2000 a Johnson County judge sentenced Brandon Howell to twelve years behind bars for a home invasion at a Gardner apartment complex in 1999. Prosecutors say Howell and three other men robbed and assaulted several people at the apartment.
He also confessed to kidnapping, robbery, assault and cruelty to an animal. According to court documents, Howell paroled out in February 2011.
�Today�s not about me, it�s about these other families and that�s where I�m hurting for because I know their pain,� Lamson said.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters-Baker said in Wednesday afternoon�s press conference that she has been in touch with Tabitha Brewer�s parents following the Kansas City homicides. Howell is behind bars at the Jackson County Detention Center. A judge set no bond for Howell, which means he will stay in jail as he awaits trial.
