The Most Disturbing Case Of Brice Rhodes | True Crime

“Look at me. He keeps turning. He keeps turning. Ma’am, I need you to hear this. The next time it happens, there will be a consequence. Do you understand that?”

“Yes, sir.”

“All right, Mr. Rhodes, you’re smiling. I don’t know why you’re smiling because I can’t—”

“Well, because I can’t. It’s not a crime to smile.”

The man you just saw on the screen is 25-year-old Brice Rhodes, displaying despicable behavior, showing no remorse or guilt for his actions. He stands accused of the murder of brothers 14-year-old Larry Ordway and 16-year-old Maurice Gordon, whose bodies were discovered following a disturbing 911 call which tipped off the authorities.

“They look like they are deceased, and those are kids. Those are kids, because there’s some shoe prints right here too.”

When their mother, Elizabeth Ren, received the devastating news, her world crumbled into pieces. But what made the pain even worse was the horrifying way her sons were killed.

They were terribly stabbed multiple times in the chest before their bodies were set on fire. It was so gruesome that the police had to prevent Elizabeth from seeing her sons for the last time.

But why would anyone do such a horrific thing?

According to Brice, the boys knew a secret of his that could destroy his life.

What could that secret be, and why would it lead to such a gruesome end for two young lives?

And what drove Brice to behave so despicably in front of law enforcement?

On May 21st, 2016, a 22-year-old girl was riding her bike past an old abandoned building on the 4,000 block of River Park Drive in the Shawnee neighborhood of West Louisville.

But that day was different, as something strange caught her eye.

The building, which had looked fine the day before, was now all burnt and destroyed. She felt curious about what had exactly happened there and decided to investigate further.

Amidst the mess of the burnt building, she spotted something strange, a shape that seemed out of place.

As she went closer, her heart pounded with fear as she discovered it was a dead body.

But the surprises didn’t end there.

Not far away, she found another body, and both of them were badly burned.

Feeling extremely scared, she quickly called the police for help.

Soon enough, the scene was swarming with police officers trying to figure out what mysterious events unfolded there the night before.

The crime scene was incredibly gruesome, so much so that the police called it the worst they’d ever seen.

It was so disturbing that even one of the officers couldn’t help but shake his head in disbelief and felt really emotional as he covered the two dead bodies with a white cloth.

The bodies were rushed to the hospital for an autopsy by pathologists. Meanwhile, the rest of the officers stayed behind at the scene, carefully searching for any more clues that could help them in the investigation.

After the autopsies, it was revealed that the cause of death wasn’t the fire, but something even more sinister.

According to a document released from the coroner’s office, both boys had suffered severe head injuries from blunt force trauma, as well as stab wounds to their chests.

What’s even more chilling is that they had already died hours before their bodies were set on fire and left at the scene.

Now, to begin their murder investigation and gather clues, the police needed to figure out who the boys were and why someone would harm them in such a terrible manner.

Despite the bodies being badly burned, the police had a stroke of luck as they managed to create sketches of the boys.

These sketches were shared with the public, with a plea for anyone who recognized them to come forward and help identify them.

But they didn’t stop at just sketches.

They delved into their records to find any missing persons reports that had been filed some days before and match the descriptions of the victims.

But sadly, they hit a dead end.

Days passed, and even though Monday came and went, no one stepped forward to identify the boys.

The following day, on May 23rd, 2016, a worried woman named Elizabeth Ren rushed to the police station.

She was visibly anxious as she told the officers the sketches they had released were of her sons, 14-year-old Larry Ordway and 16-year-old Maurice Gordon.

Elizabeth was shocked when the officers delivered the heartbreaking news that her sons’ bodies had been found completely burned.

The police told her that they were suspecting foul play and believed it wasn’t just an accident, but rather a carefully planned murder.

Elizabeth desperately wanted to see her sons one last time, but the officers had to gently refuse her request.

The bodies were in such a horrible state that it wouldn’t have been appropriate for a mother to witness.

Despite feeling utterly helpless, Elizabeth gathered her strength and shared a crucial piece of information with the police.

Elizabeth recounted to the police how, on the evening of May 21st, 2016, her sons had informed her that they were going out with some friends whom she had never liked.

Despite her attempts to prevent her sons from hanging out with these friends in the past, they still went ahead that night.

They headed to a party with three individuals: 17-year-old Jackary Taylor, 15-year-old Anwan Carter, and 25-year-old Brice Rhodes.

Elizabeth expressed her concern about Brice, who had a troubling criminal history involving various serious offenses like domestic violence, physical offenses, kidnapping, and even abusing individuals.

The boys assured Elizabeth they’d return soon, and even though days had passed without any sign of them, she didn’t worry much.

They had a habit of partying and sometimes not coming home for days, so she thought it was just another one of those times.

However, little did she know this time would bring devastating news that would change her life forever.

The police wasted no time in tracking down the entire group.

They quickly found Anwan Carter and brought him in for questioning. Meanwhile, they continued their search for Brice, and by the next day, Tuesday, May 24th, 2016, they had located him as well.

Another member of the group, Jackary Taylor, was also apprehended on the same day.

All within a short span of time, Brice and Jackary spent hours in police custody as each were speaking separately with detectives about Larry and Maurice.

The detectives tried to make Jackary nervous by showing him crime scene photos of the two brothers, hoping to coax information about the murders.

However, all Jackary said was that he was friends with the brothers but had nothing to do with their deaths.

On the other hand, Brice insisted to police that he had no idea where the brothers were and eventually requested a lawyer.

When Jackary and Brice didn’t provide any useful information, the police decided to change their approach.

During a separate interview with Anwan, they noticed a difference in his demeanor.

That’s when Anwan finally opened up about what exactly happened on the evening of May 21st.

He explained that Brice had called him and Jackary to his apartment that evening.

There, Brice confided in them and expressed his suspicion that Larry and Maurice might tell the police about something they had seen on May 4th, 2016, which was Brice’s biggest secret.

Brice managed to persuade Jackary and Anwan to assist him with a plan, a plan that involved something terrible: killing the brothers.

On the night of May 21st, Jackary went to their house and convinced the brothers to come out by telling them that Brice was going to take them to a party.

Larry and Maurice were a bit unsure at first, but eventually they agreed to go along.

As they left the house, they assured their mother Elizabeth that they would be back later that night.

The group had driven to Brice’s house, which he shared with his mother, who happened to be out of town that weekend.

As the boys settled in, they began hanging out and having a good time, just like any other party.

But Larry and Maurice had no idea that there was something sinister brewing behind the scenes.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, an argument broke out among the group and ruined the fun atmosphere of the party.

Anwan told the police that Jackary accused the brothers of stealing money from Brice.

When Jackary confronted Maurice about the theft, he became furious.

At that moment, Maurice felt threatened and could sense the danger, so he grabbed a knife to save him and his brother, which escalated the whole situation.

“He made Maurice on his knees and like beg for forgiveness. He tied him up. He tied his brother up,” Anwan stated.

Anwan stated that when Maurice pulled out the knife, Brice quickly stepped in and took it away.

Then they both managed to overpower the brothers and tied them up with belts.

They separated Larry from Maurice so that both brothers wouldn’t be able to fight back and left him in the bathroom.

While Brice brought Maurice to his knees in the living room, Maurice pleaded for their lives.

But Brice demanded that he beg for forgiveness.

It was a tense moment as Jackary and Anwan watched Maurice tearfully beg for forgiveness, hoping to save himself and his brother from whatever was about to happen next.

“Keep the loing over his head and he put a rag in his mouth and he stabbed him.”

Brice’s cruelty knew no bounds.

After laying a blanket on the floor under Maurice, he covered his head with stockings and shoved a rag into his mouth.

Then, in a shocking act of violence, Brice began mercilessly beating Maurice and stabbing him over and over again in the chest.

The other teens watching were terrified and shaken by the gruesome and horrific scene unfolding before them.

Brice, with his menacing demeanor, threatened the boys who were witnessing the horror and pressured Anwan into stabbing Maurice once in the chest.

Fearing Brice’s wrath, Anwan reluctantly obeyed his command.

“Move Maurice. We brought his head. He put it in his mouth,” Anwan continued his chilling account.

Anwan revealed that once Maurice was dead, Brice forcefully brought Larry out of the bathroom to the living room, where his brother’s blood was covering the floor.

It was a heartbreaking moment for Larry as he realized his brother was now dead.

Maurice’s lifeless body was moved aside as Brice turned his attention to Larry.

Anwan vividly remembered Larry’s painful voice when he pleaded with Brice to spare him, but it was all in vain.

Larry was subjected to the same horrific treatment as his brother.

Anwan still heard Larry’s desperate pleas before Brice had stabbed him a shocking 20 times in the chest.

Once again, Brice threatened Jackary and forced him to stab Larry once.

With both Maurice and Larry now dead, Brice loaded their bodies into the car and called another friend to help dispose of them.

As Brice and his friend drove off with the brothers’ lifeless bodies in the back seat, Anwan and Jackary were left behind at the apartment as Brice instructed them to clean up the gruesome scene.

“What happens next? He puts new crates, new crates. You put clothes in, clean the house up.”

Anwan continued his confession by revealing that Brice drove their lifeless bodies to an abandoned lot and set them on fire.

As the flames engulfed Maurice and Larry, their bodies burned that fateful night.

However, by some stroke of luck, their bodies hadn’t turned to ashes.

After Anwan’s interrogation, the police finally uncovered the horrifying truth about how Larry and Maurice met their tragic end.

However, there were still lingering questions in their minds.

What was the brothers’ connection to Brice?

And what was the secret that led to such a dreadful fate for the siblings?

Larry and Maurice were just regular teenagers who enjoyed life. Even though they were stepbrothers, they shared a strong bond.

But things took a turn when they met Brice in 2015, and his cool personality caught their attention right away.

Brice was a rapper, and he had a bunch of music videos online that made him seem super successful and rich.

Larry and Maurice were impressed by his lifestyle and charisma, and soon found themselves drawn into his world.

When they all became close, Brice introduced them to one of his friends, 17-year-old Jackary Taylor.

As the three boys hung out with Brice more and more, they met a fourth teenager, 14-year-old Anwan Carter, who also joined their group.

In 2015, they all used to spend a lot of time with Brice, as he would drive them around, buy them clothes and food, and even give them money to spend as they pleased.

In an interview with the police, Jackary revealed that Brice used to promise them that they would become famous if they followed in his footsteps.

As time went on, the boys seemed to embrace Brice’s gangster lifestyle more and more.

They even appeared in some of his music videos, giving off the impression that they were adopting his mentality.

Elizabeth noted a change in their behavior during this period.

Their social media accounts started to fill up with pictures of them posing with fake weapons, showing off stacks of cash, and smoking cigars, along with images of women.

They also began attending parties regularly and would sometimes stay out for days.

On May 4th, 2016, they were returning from one such party late at night around 12:30 a.m.

Maurice was driving Brice’s car with Jackary in the passenger seat, and Brice and Larry were in the back, while Anwan was following behind them in a truck.

Suddenly, Brice made Maurice slam on the brakes of the car when he spotted a man walking on the sidewalk of the 800 block of South 41st Street in Louisville, Kentucky.

As he strained to remember where he knew him from, it soon clicked that he was Christopher Jones, the 40-year-old man that local gangs were after.

But Brice made a serious mistake.

He wrongly identified Christopher, thinking he was someone else trying to collect the reward placed on his head.

It was such a mistake that changed everything in an instant.

In a moment of panic, Brice quickly pulled out his gun and shot Christopher in the chest from the car window.

As Christopher fell down, all the teens were stunned by witnessing a murder in front of their eyes.

Without even stopping to think, they drove away from there as fast as they could, feeling scared and full of adrenaline.

After the shooting, Christopher was rushed to emergency surgery, but sadly, he didn’t make it and died during the operation.

Brice had driven the boys home and warned them not to breathe a word about what happened that night.

But over the next two weeks, Larry and Maurice couldn’t shake off the horror of what they’d seen.

They started avoiding Brice more and more as they felt uneasy about being around him.

Meanwhile, Brice was feeling anxious too.

He worried that the brothers might spill the beans about the shooting to everyone, and he would be in serious trouble.

So, he made a decision to end their lives.

On the evening of May 21st, 2016, in a short period, Brice made a grave decision to take the lives of three people, all to protect himself.

But now, the consequences of his actions were closing in on him.

Following the interrogations, both Jackary and Anwan admitted guilt to three counts of aiding murder and tampering with evidence.

Because they were under 18 years old, they were sentenced to serve 10 years in juvenile detention centers, with the remainder to be served in adult prisons once they turned 18.

As part of their agreements, they were also required to testify against Brice during his trial.

Ever since Brice was arrested, he made a mess of the court hearings.

The victims’ families thought he did it on purpose. They believed he was trying to cause chaos because he knew the prosecution wanted the death penalty.

He thought if he made enough trouble and delayed the process, they might not give him the death penalty.

At first, Brice did something shocking.

He spit on his court-appointed attorney because he found out the attorney was friends with the victim’s grandfather.

This caused a big problem, and the attorney had to leave the case due to a conflict of interest.

Later, there was even a fight between Brice and the attorney, and you can see it all in the court footage.

“Nice cheap shot. You a coward. Nice cheap—”

Brice even made a threatening statement:

“I’ll see you when I get out.”

Because of this threat, in future courtroom appearances, Brice was restrained to his chair and made to wear a spit mask.

But even with these measures, his behavior didn’t improve.

In one hearing, he even threatened the judge and her family.

Brice’s antics in the courtroom didn’t stop there.

Many times, he refused to let his attorney speak for him and claimed that he didn’t trust them.

He even went through three different state-appointed attorneys because of this.

It was like he was determined to do things his own way, no matter what anyone else had said.

“Whether you agree with me or not, the court’s will end, so I just wanted on record that I’m doing everything on my part. Put it on the record, you know, at a time that’s best for you. But if you think this is the best time, even though you show favoritism to the Commonwealth, you didn’t add every motion I’ve ever filed in this courtroom. I’m still going to—it’s my right to file a private motion, and it’s my right to speak what I need to speak on.

I don’t know if you got some type of sexual relationship going on or what y’all got going on, but I’m definitely going to speak my mind.”

“Detective, I tell you, I don’t have no sexual relationship.”

“Now I’m talking about you and the prosecutor, sir. You denied all my motions.”

“Every motion?”

“If you didn’t deny it, I’m pretty sure I’ve denied the best motions.”

“Are you some type of racist? Are you got some type of sexual relationship going on? Which one is it? Or are you just wrong in everything that you made motion for? Are you a secret Ku Klux Klan member?”

“No, sir, I’m not.”

“Is that what you really are?”

“No, okay, I’m not.”

“But like I said, the higher courts, they’ll deal with it when time comes necessary.”

“That’s exactly right.”

“Exactly. And so say less. On to the next subject. Say less. Your job is to do your job, not to worry about me.”

“That’s what I’m saying. I worry about me, you worry about yourself. I just ask you why do you keep refusing to get this man off my case when we keep having problems. Do you have something personal against me to where you don’t want to move him?”

“No, sir. I have something personal against not providing you effective assistance of counsel.”

“They had struggled to find someone who could represent you, and that basically, Mr. Griffith, is what they’ve got.”

“I write the Bar and the ACLU, you know. I write them. You know, I see what’s going on.”

“Fair enough. Let’s get us a date to come back.”

“No, we gonna find out though. We gonna find out real quick. Promise.”

After this courtroom appearance in 2017, Brice also tried to escape from prison by digging a hole in his cell.

However, officers found the hole and also uncovered a threatening note he sent to Jackary.

The note read:

“Rats get exposed. Show me that you’re not a rat.”

This showed Brice’s determination to manipulate even from behind bars.

In another shocking incident captured on court video, Brice displayed shameless behavior as he was seen in the video blowing kisses at the mother of the victims.

It was a disturbing display of his lack of remorse or guilt for his actions.

“Can we do a fair trial in Jefferson County? But then another part of it is, if we have a concern, what’s the alternative? Because then we might get into a situation on bond where I’m supposed to weigh the—”

“Look at me. He keeps turning. He keeps turning. Ma’am, I told you once before, let me please help you understand. You can’t just talk out like that, okay?

If you can’t handle him looking at you, respectfully, all I can tell you to do is don’t be in my courtroom because he’s going to keep doing it, particularly now that he knows that it irritates you.

So you either are able to control yourself or you’re not. And I would understand why you could not. I get that completely. But I can’t have you talking up in court, okay?

The next time—I need you to hear this—the next time it happens, there will be a consequence. Do you understand that?”

“Yes, sir.”

“All right, Mr. Rhodes, you’re smiling. I don’t know why you’re smiling because I can’t—”

“Well, because I can’t. It’s not a crime to smile.”

“It’s not a crime to smile. Continue what you were saying, but it doesn’t help you, all right, to irritate people. You have a lot at stake in this case.”

“It’s not a crime to smile, is it?”

“I didn’t say you were committing a crime. I’m saying you’re not helping yourself. Continue what you were saying.”

“I just smile.”

“I would suggest you do what helps you, not what hurts you.”

“Do what I want to do.”

“Well, you want to do that’s fine. Let’s get that understood.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Let’s get that understood.”

The trial kept getting postponed over and over again, and Elizabeth was becoming increasingly frustrated, not only with the delays but also with Brice’s attitude in the courtroom.

During one hearing, her emotions overwhelmed her, and she had to be removed from the courtroom.

Later, when talking to journalists, she revealed that despite trying to find forgiveness through her faith, she couldn’t shake the pain of losing her two boys to this monster.

She described Brice as sick and a demon, which highlighted the depth of her anguish and anger towards him.

After six long years of Brice’s senseless behavior and intense courtroom drama, justice was finally served in 2022.

Brice Rhodes was convicted of stabbing and burning the bodies of teenage brothers 14-year-old Larry Ordway and 16-year-old Maurice Gordon.

This gruesome act came after they reportedly witnessed him shoot and kill 40-year-old Christopher Jones in 2016.

Along with the three murder charges, the jury also found Brice guilty of tampering with physical evidence and two counts of abuse of a corpse.

For the murders, the jury recommended a life sentence without parole.

Additionally, they suggested five years for tampering with evidence and one year for each count of abuse of a corpse.

While he wasn’t eligible for the death penalty, Brice’s sentences will run concurrently, which means he’ll spend the rest of his days behind bars unless his defense wins an appeal.

After the verdict, the teen brothers’ grandmother, Deborah Ren, was emotional while sharing her memories.

“Really good kids. They went to school and they played sports, and they were really good-natured boys. They never been in trouble. They were very loving. They got along with everybody. They were well-liked at school. Their teachers really felt fond of them. They were involved in sports. They were just good boys.”

During the trial, the jury had to think about Brice Rhodes’ mental state when deciding what punishment he should face.

The defense brought in psychologists who said Rhodes had an intellectual disability.

They also mentioned he had ADHD and bipolar disorder, but they believed he hadn’t received the support or education he needed to deal with these challenges.

Despite these arguments, the jury decided to support the prosecution and the victims.

What are your thoughts on the case?

How did the lack of positive adult role models contribute to the vulnerability of the teenage boys involved in the case?

What measures can be taken to prevent similar incidents involving manipulation and violence among vulnerable youth in the future?

We’d love to hear from you.

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Until next time, stay safe and keep your eyes peeled for the next mystery to unfold.