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Crime & Safety

River Ridge Uneasy After Arrest

Ryan Brunn, a maintenance worker at the River Ridge at Canton apartment community, was arrested today in connection with the murder of 7-year-old Joreyls Rivera.

resident Johnnie Cunningham always thought the apartment complex's new maintenance worker was a nice, friendly man. He was the one who waved to residents as they passed by him.

So, Cunningham was stunned today when Ryan Brunn, 20, was charged with the murder of 7-year-old , the first-grader who also lived in the apartment complex off Reinhardt College Parkway.

“It threw me for a loop,” Cunningham said of Brunn’s arrest. “He was your average Joe, a really nice guy. I never thought in a million years it was him.”

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Bernadette Merrill said she last saw Brunn on Tuesday night with another man. Brunn picked up dog feces off the ground, which had prevented Merrill from being able to get out of her car.

When she heard , she thought, “I sure hope it wasn’t the one who picked up the dog mess.”

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“He was so polite,” Merrill said. “If he could pick up dog mess, why would he do that to a child?”

Merrill said she had seen Rivera playing outside in the evenings without supervision. The child was last seen playing on the playground at the apartment complex on Friday.

“When it first happened, I didn’t get any sleep,” Merrill said. “I couldn’t see that child being thrown away like that.”

Rivera’s body was found Monday afternoon in a Dumpster at the apartment complex. Georgia Bureau of Investigation director Vernon Keenan said . Keenan said tips from residents led them to Brunn and that he had been under surveillance since Tuesday.

Irma Perec teared up when she talked about Rivera, who went to school and played with her own daughter.

“I feel sad and angry,” said Perec, who has lived at the apartment complex for four years. “I have different feelings.”

This afternoon, Perec said she was planning on talking to employees at the apartment complex about moving out.

“I don’t feel good to live here anymore,” Perec said. “I have a child and I really worry. I think they have to be more careful with who lives here and who works here. I don’t know. That’s what I think. I don’t know what they think.”

Wesley Rich, who moved to River Ridge in June, said he hasn’t felt safe for a while, especially since he said someone was stabbed at the apartment complex a couple of months ago.

“It’s just crazy,” said Rich, who had met Brunn once. “He seemed like a normal kid. He didn’t seem strange to me. I don’t know if this kid did it or if he didn’t. It’s just a strange situation.”

Rich said he plans to move.

“It makes you wonder what kind of background checks they do here,” he said.

Both employees and residents undergo two background checks, said Jay Burn, who was returning media phone calls but said he was not an official spokesman for McCormack Baron, which manages the River Ridge complex.

“They undergo an extensive check, criminal as well as the sexual predator list,” Burn said. “(Brunn) went through it, and he cleared it.”

Brunn was hired on Nov. 7. According to his Facebook page, which came down shortly after news of his arrest became public, he moved from Dahlonega to Canton on Nov. 5.

McCormack Baron has been communicating with residents, has staff on site, and also is deploying independent counselors and support services to Canton. Employees at the apartment complex said they were not allowed to talk to the press.

Llander Thompson said people who live at River Ridge now will be looking over their shoulders.

“The people who have kids will be walking on eggshells,” Thompson said. “We should have trust that he’s here to help us, not hurt us.”

Thompson said he’s relieved that an arrest was made in the case.

“My heart goes out to the family because the little one didn’t deserve that,” he said.

While some residents said they now don’t feel safe at River Ridge, one said Brunn’s arrest hasn’t changed her sense of safety. Catherine Knott said she doesn’t feel any more or less safe.

“Anywhere you go, there’s going to be someone,” Knott said. “As long as they got someone, that’s what matters. I pray that it’s the right person.”

FAST FACTS

A public viewing for Rivera will be held Friday from 5-8 p.m. at Darby Funeral Home, and funeral services are scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. A vigil will be held Friday from 6-9 p.m. at in Canton.

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