Atlanta Man Sentenced to Life for 1986 Sexual Assaults Solved by DNA Evidence
DECATUR, Ga. — An Atlanta man accused of multiple sexual assaults nearly 40 years ago will spend the rest of his life in prison.
On September 19, 2025, a DeKalb County jury found 61-year-old Jeffrey Briney guilty of multiple charges in two separate 1986 attacks, including four counts of Rape, seven counts of Kidnapping, seven counts of Armed Robbery or Attempted Armed Robbery, seven counts of Aggravated Assault, and three counts of Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony.
During sentencing on October 23, 2025, the four women who survived the assaults delivered emotional victim impact statements describing how the crimes “shattered” their lives, but also how they found strength to heal and help others.
Superior Court Judge Tangela Barrie sentenced Briney to eight life sentences plus 185 years, to be served consecutively — the maximum allowed under Georgia law.
The 1986 Attacks
On March 28, 1986, four men forced their way into an apartment on Briarwood Road, now part of the City of Brookhaven. The suspects held five college students at gunpoint, tied them up, and raped two women before stealing valuables.
Months later, on October 27, 1986, two men armed with a handgun broke into an apartment in the 3000 block of Buford Highway, raped both female residents, tied them up, and fled with stolen items.
The cases went cold for decades.
DNA Breakthrough
In 2023, as part of the Georgia Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (GASAKI), the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) sent previously untested rape kits to a private lab for DNA analysis.
In June 2023, DNA from one of the Briarwood victims matched Jeffrey Briney in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). The same DNA was also linked to the Buford Highway case, which occurred less than a mile away.
Two months later, DNA from the other Briarwood victim matched David Briney, Jeffrey’s brother. His DNA has since been tied to seven additional assaults, including one in Cobb County and six in Fulton County. A trial date for David Briney has not yet been scheduled.
The Investigation and Task Force
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Agatha Romanowski, with assistance from Senior ADA Ashley Warmack, DA Investigators Crispin Henry and Brandi Rogers, and Victim Advocate Julie Varnado. The original 1986 investigation was led by DeKalb County Police Major S. Waits, now retired.
The GASAKI Task Force, created in 2018 through a federal grant, brings together prosecutors, investigators, and victim advocates from several Georgia agencies to solve cold sexual assault cases. The task force works closely with the GBI Crime Lab, which has safeguarded untested kits for years.
Thanks to federal funding through the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC), the GBI sent about 2,500 untested kits to private labs for processing in 2023, including 74 from DeKalb County.
Because the crimes occurred in 1986, Briney’s life sentences fall under parole eligibility guidelines from that time.
