MERCER COUNTY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A woman has pleaded guilty to murdering a 13-year-old.
According to Mercer County Prosecuting Attorney Brian K. Cochran, Nichole Brooks, age 44, of Bluefield West Virginia pled guilty on day two of her jury trial involving the shooting death of a 13-year-old child. Brooks and her daughter Isis Wallace were both charged with the March 23, 2022 murder of Maryse Tatum of High Point North Carolina.
Tatum was a backseat passenger in a vehicle occupied by her mother and a friend of her mothers when Brooks and Wallace pulled up beside of the vehicle at the intersection of Cumberland Road and U.S. Rt. 460 in Bluefield. There had previously been an argument between Brooks, Wallace and the adult occupants of the vehicle. A shot was fired from Brooks’ vehicle and struck Tatum in the head. Tatum later died on the day after the shooting.
Wallace previously pled guilty to second-degree murder, use of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and conspiracy and is expected to be sentenced to 50 years in the West Virginia penitentiary on Friday, June 2, 2023. Brooks pled guilty this morning to second-degree murder and is set to be sentenced on August 1, 2023.
Cochran stated that the mother of the deceased child asked him to accept this agreement, as well as Wallace’s guilty plea because she wanted closure, finality, and certainty.
“We put on 5 or 6 witnesses yesterday and thought things were going as expected.” We think we had a strong case and an attentive jury”. “We believe that both Brooks and Wallace are guilty of killing this child, even though only one shot was fired”. “It’s a sad situation and a difficult case but we prepared and were in the process of presenting our case to the jury and were prepared to continue on with witnesses throughout today and tomorrow. However, as a prosecutor and as a parent, I just feel obligated to take the mother’s wishes into consideration in cases like this, and to give her opinion the respect it deserves.”
“I am very proud of how hard our police officers worked on these two cases and how hard our office did as well. Our police officers, child protection agencies, and our prosecutors work very hard in this County to do whatever possible to protect our kids. Cases like this are just senseless tragedies that should not ever occur.”
