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shortly after arriving at the Memorial Health Meadows Hospital in Vidalia.

Toombs County Sheriff Jordan Kight requested assistance from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Region 12 Office to probe the case. Through the investigation, suspicion arose that Reese was beaten to death, which led to the arrest of her mother, Taylor Marie Hughes, 29, of Lyons, and Taylor Hughes’s boyfriend Seth Hunter Brown, 26, of Lyons.

The couple both went before Chief Middle Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Robert Reeves for their first appearance in court on Monday, March 17, where Judge Reeves informed the pair that bond would not be considered at the current time. Hughes requested a court-appointed attorney while Brown stated he would hire his own counsel, and with no further business to attend, the hearing was adjourned.

Brown and Hughes were each indicted by the Toombs County Grand Jury on April 22 on two counts of malice murder and two counts of cruelty to children in the first degree.– one for each body part (abdomen and head) which was struck during the incident. The couple also were charged with four counts of felony murder – a count each for “maliciously causing cruel and excessive physical pain by striking the child” in the head and abdomen, and a count each for harming the child’s brain and intestines, ultimately leading to her death. Two additional counts of aggravated battery were also charged to the couple because of these injuries.

On Thursday, July 3, the Middle Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office filed a notice sharing the prosecution’s intent to seek the death penalty against Brown. The notice states that this decision to seek the death penalty comes based on the aggravated battery charges which Brown is currently facing.

The pretrial hearing date for the case is scheduled for October 7 at 10 a.m., while the trial will begin on December 8 at 9 a.m. Both the pretrial and trial are set to be held in the Toombs County Courthouse.