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Killing of Brenda Sue Brown

COLD2002Near South Lafayette Street, Shelby, North Carolina3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026

Documents violence · crimes against children · ongoing investigation — written to inform, not to shock.

Illustrative

On the morning of July 27, 1966, Brenda Sue Brown, age 11, was asked to walk her 6-year-old sister Patricia two blocks to a Head Start class in Shelby, North Carolina. This was the last time she was seen alive. When Brenda Sue did not return, her mother Gladys Brown began a door-to-door search around 10:15 a.m., and a search team from the Shelby Rescue Squad was later formed. At 6:45 p.m., Brenda Sue's nude body was found in a wooded area near South Lafayette Street, not far from her home. Her body was covered with freshly cut tree limbs and brush, and her folded dress was placed atop the brush. A bloody rock was found nearby.

Authorities determined Brenda Sue had been beaten to death with the rock, her skull fractured in twelve places. Police reported she had not been raped despite being found nude. Investigators believed the killer was on foot, given heavy traffic on South Lafayette Street. Suspects at the time included an unidentified man who had exposed himself to Brenda Sue's sister days earlier, and a 13-year-old boy, Robert Roseboro, who lived near where the body was found. Roseboro was questioned but gave no answers; police lacked sufficient evidence to charge him, and the case went cold.

In 1968, Roseboro was arrested for the murder of Mary Helen Williams, a Shelby business owner found beaten and stabbed. He was convicted in May 1969 and sentenced to death, later commuted to life in prison. Because of similarities to the Brown case, many locals believed Roseboro was responsible for both killings, though he was never charged in Brown's death and denied involvement when questioned by detectives in 2005 and again during 2010 testimony.

In 2005, Brenda Sue's sisters pushed for the case to be reopened; missing case files were eventually located, though key physical evidence had been lost. In May 2006, her body was exhumed and later reinterred following a public memorial. A 2006 newspaper series on the case's 40th anniversary prompted Lori Lail to come forward, stating her late grandfather, Earl Mickey Parker, had confessed on his deathbed in 2002 that he and Thurman Price killed Brenda Sue. Records showed Parker and Price had a prior joint conviction for assault to commit rape of a 12-year-old girl in 1954.

On February 12, 2007, police arrested Thurman Price, then 79, on a first-degree murder charge. He was released on bond and denied involvement. Parker's body was exhumed in 2007 to compare palm prints to a bloody print found on Brenda Sue's shoe, but results were inconclusive due to deterioration. In February 2010, a judge ruled Parker's deathbed confession and Lail's testimony admissible at trial. Price maintained his innocence until his death on August 4, 2012, while still awaiting trial.

Key facts

Victims
Brenda Sue Brown, Mary Helen Williams
Date
2002
Location
Near South Lafayette Street, Shelby, North Carolina
Case status
cold

Case timeline

  1. 1955-05-15

    Brenda Sue Brown is born.

  2. 1954

    Earl Mickey Parker and Thurman Price are indicted for the rape of a 12-year-old girl in Patterson Springs, North Carolina.

  3. 1955-01

    Parker and Price plead guilty to assault to commit rape and receive suspended sentences.

  4. 1966-07-27

    Brenda Sue Brown disappears while walking her sister to a Head Start class; her body is found that evening in a wooded area near South Lafayette Street, Shelby, NC.

  5. 1968-06-22

    Mary Helen Williams is found beaten and stabbed to death at her business in Shelby; Robert Roseboro is found at the scene.

  6. 1969-05

    Robert Roseboro is found guilty of murdering Mary Helen Williams and sentenced to death, later commuted to life in prison.

  7. 2002-06-26

    Earl Mickey Parker dies; before his death he allegedly confesses to his granddaughter Lori Lail that he and Thurman Price killed Brenda Sue Brown.

  8. 2005

    Brenda Sue Brown's sisters press police to reopen the case; missing case files are eventually located.

  9. 2006-04-03

    Lori Lail calls Brenda Sue Brown's family and names Thurman Price as the killer, without mentioning her grandfather's involvement.

  10. 2006-05-15

    Brenda Sue Brown's body is exhumed from Spring Hill Church Road Cemetery for examination.

  11. 2006-05-21

    A public memorial service is held and Brenda Sue's remains are reinterred at Sunset Cemetery, Shelby, NC.

  12. 2007-02-12

    Thurman Price, 79, is arrested on a first-degree murder charge in the death of Brenda Sue Brown.

  13. 2007-02-16

    Thurman Price is released on $50,000 bond, denying involvement in the murder.

  14. 2007-05-10

    Earl Mickey Parker's body is exhumed to attempt a palm print comparison; results are inconclusive.

  15. 2007-11-11

    The case is profiled on the Oxygen Channel's 'Captured'.

  16. 2010-02-09

    A Cleveland County judge rules Parker's deathbed confession and Lail's testimony admissible as evidence at trial.

  17. 2010-02

    Robert Roseboro is subpoenaed to testify at a Cleveland County hearing regarding the case against Thurman Price; he denies killing Brenda Sue.

  18. 2012-08-04

    Thurman Price dies while still awaiting trial, having maintained his innocence.

Best coverage

No approved coverage links are attached yet.

People

  • Brenda Sue Brown

    VICTIM

    11-year-old girl abducted and beaten to death in Shelby, North Carolina, in 1966.

    citation on file

  • Mary Helen Williams

    VICTIM

    Shelby business owner found beaten and stabbed to death in 1968; her killing is discussed for its similarities to the Brown case.

    citation on file

  • Robert Roseboro

    CONVICTED

    Convicted in May 1969 of murdering Mary Helen Williams and sentenced to death, later commuted to life in prison; questioned but never charged in the Brenda Sue Brown case, which he has denied involvement in.

    citation on file

  • Thurman Price

    CHARGED

    Arrested in February 2007 on a first-degree murder charge in the death of Brenda Sue Brown; denied involvement and died in August 2012 while still awaiting trial.

    citation on file

Places

Near South Lafayette Street, Shelby, North Carolina

35.2926, -81.5346

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
Brenda Sue Brown, an 11-year-old girl, was abducted and beaten to death near her home in Shelby, North Carolina, on July 27, 1966. The case went cold for decades until new evidence in 2006–2007 led to the arrest of Thurman Price, who died in 2012 while still awaiting trial.
Where did the killing happen?
Near South Lafayette Street, Shelby, North Carolina.
Who was convicted?
Robert Roseboro (Convicted in May 1969 of murdering Mary Helen Williams and sentenced to death, later commuted to life in prison; questioned but never charged in the Brenda Sue Brown case, which he has denied involvement in.).
What is the current status of the case?
Status: cold. Last verified July 2026.

Sources

  1. Killing of Brenda Sue Brownwikipedia · Wikipedia · 2026-07-05
  2. Contemporaneous coverage — shelbystar.comnews · shelbystar.com · 2026-07-05
  3. Contemporaneous coverage — oxygen.comnews · oxygen.com · 2026-07-05

Last verified JUL 2026

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