NORFOLK, Va. - An affidavit released by the FBI shines a light on the grounds which 45-year-old Eric Brown was arrested and his connection to the disappearance and death of Ashanti Billie.
Eric Brian Brown (Norfolk City Jail)
At a glance, Brown grew up in Charlotte. He served in the U.S. Navy for 20 years as an enlisted Sailor working as an Information Systems technician. He was most currently working as a laborer on case according to court records.
The FBI reports Brown's co-workers called them to report that it was Brown in the surveillance video of Ashanti Billie's car seen leaving base and it was Brown in the neighborhood video where Billie's phone was found.
Witnesses spoke to the FBI and court documents say Brown made statements to them, saying things like he, "hates African American women because they are gold diggers, they are hypnotized by social media and they only want guys with all the money.”
It seems as though Brown was on the radar of local law enforcement and they were watching him the night of September 29 when court documents say he arranged a 'date' with a known prostitute in Virginia Beach. The affidavit says as Brown left that encounter he was walking through private property and arrested for trespassing.
Once in police custody, Brown was behind bars and talking to another inmate. According to the FBI records that inmate came forward and said Brown made violent comments and even said, "there ain't nothing like the first taste of blood. Sometimes it makes you do things that are explainable.”
The FBI used their investigation, surveillance, these statements and DNA matches as their probable cause to arrest Brown for the kidnapping of Ashanti Billie.
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