Family, friends of murdered Wood County teen rally for justice on 16th anniversary of death

QUITMAN, Texas (KLTV) - In the shadow of the Wood County Courthouse, family and friends of Brittany McGlone rallied Thursday for justice on the 16th anniversary of McGlone’s murder.

“Her life mattered,” said Hope McGlone, Brittany’s sister. “That’s kind of why we’re still here.”

McGlone, 19, was found bludgeoned to death inside her boyfriend’s home near Lake Winnsboro on May 4, 2007.

“Brittany didn’t deserve to be murdered,” said Patricia Tice, Brittany’s mother. “She was one of the most innocent victims you can think of. She was sleeping.”

Tice says Chad Carr, who was dating Brittany’s boyfriend’s sister at the time, was a suspect in her daughter’s murder from the very start.

“Chad Carr was the suspect from the very beginning,” she said. “And that was agreed on by multiple law enforcement agencies, four sheriff’s administrations and the current Sheriff Kelly Cole, that Chad Carr killed my daughter Brittany.”

In 2022, following years without an arrest, Wood County Sheriff Kelly Cole felt there was enough evidence to put Carr behind bars. He was arrested on Sept. 1, 2022.

“Everything pointed to the same person, and to me, it was time to make an arrest,” Cole said in September.

The case then fell into the hands of Wood County District Attorney Angela Albers, who presented the evidence to a grand jury. They returned a decision to not indict.

“I allege that Angela Albers actively persuaded or nudged the grand jury to no-bill Chad Carr,” said Tice, who claims Albers failed to meet with her ahead of presenting the case. Instead, Tice met with assistant district attorney Brandon Baade.

“And Brandon Baade made it very clear to me and my sister, who was at the meeting, that they were upset with the sheriff because he proceeded with an arrest without consulting with him first. The sheriff was correct in not consulting with him because Brandon Baade represented Chad Carr in 2007 on a sexual assault case,” Tice said.

In a statement sent to KLTV on Thursday afternoon, Albers said in part:

“The decision not to indict in this case indicates that a Wood County Grand Jury determined that the evidence was insufficient. The no-bill means that the Wood County Sheriff’s Office can continue to work on the case and gather evidence to hopefully bring to justice the perpetrator of this horrible crime.

I believe in, and took an oath to uphold, the integrity of the Grand Jury system. In no way could I cause a specific outcome on a case presented to the Grand Jury. Any claims to the contrary are false.”

KLTV also reached out to Sheriff Kelly Cole for comment on Thursday’s rally for McGlone. He tells us, “I stand with them on all they are doing.”

PREVIOUS STORIES:

+ Murder victim’s sister calls grand jury’s decision ‘punch in the gut’

+ Affidavit reveals new details in Wood County cold-case murder arrest

+ Wood County sheriff says mix of old, new evidence led to arrest of Brittany McGlone murder suspect

+ Sister of 2007 Wood County murder victim reacts to arrest of suspect

+ Wood County Sheriff’s Office makes arrest in 2007 cold-case death of 19-year-old

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