What kind of man shoots a teenage girl in the head, then makes an emotional 911 call pretending he just found her body? Authorities in Ridgeland, South Carolina say that’s what 32-year-old Brian Jamal Redding did. He’s now charged in the alleged Sept. 6 murder of Cypress Noonan, 16.
As heard in 911 audio, the caller sounded distraught and claimed to have found Noonan–who he described as his girlfriend–dead in a room at the Forest Motel. The teenager had been shot in the head. Redding said he did not know who was responsible. After being asked for his name, he said he and Noonan had been living together for the previous eight months.
Update to a very sad story I wrote while working breaking news over Labor Day: A 32-year-old has been charged in the shooting of Cypress Noonan in a Ridgeland hotel. Dispatch audio shows he called 911 to report the crime. w/ @jake4shore @TheLanaBanana https://t.co/CBYDQ805gg
— Lucas Smolcic Larson 🐢 (@Lucasgsl6) November 11, 2020
New charges, however, indicate that authorities believe Redding’s call was an act. According to arrest warrants dated Tuesday from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), Redding shot Noonan in the head with an SCCY 9mm handgun. These documents do not suggest a motive, however, nor do they explain why investigators believe the defendant was the person responsible.
Redding is charged with murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a violent felony.
It is unclear if the defendant has an attorney of record at this time.
Ridgeland police initially investigated, but passed the case to SLED.
“There was a lot of ground work on this case and our two investigators worked hand in hand with SLED on this case,” Police Chief Richard Woods said, according to the Jasper County Sun Times. “It takes time to investigate a murder and hats off to SLED and our two investigators, Daniel Litchfield and John Croft, for all of the work they put in on this investigation.”
Noonan would have turned 17 back on September 19.
“This is a small town and this is where we’re raised,” sister Paige Johnson told WJCL in a September report. “Anywhere you go, you can’t do anything but think of her.”
[Screengrab via WJCL]
