FAYETTE COUNTY, Ga. — The mother of a murdered 15-year-old from Peachtree City said she can finally breathe a couple weeks after the second anniversary of her daughter’s death and the culmination of the third trial in her daughter’s case.
Madison Gesswein died after being shot on Feb. 21, 2023, at her apartment complex in Peachtree City.
Her mother, Nancy Finch, discovered her daughter’s body the next morning around 6 when she was getting up to start her day.
Finch told Channel 2′s Eryn Rogers that it was the first day of winter break for Fayette County.
Her daughter was a freshman at Whitewater High School. She expected her daughter to be sleeping in; however, she said she noticed the light from her daughter’s bedroom looked odd, so she went to check on her.
“Her bedroom door was locked, and her bedroom door has never been locked,” Finch said. “I kept knocking and getting no answer.”
She said she got a screwdriver and opened the door. When she walked in, she said her daughter looked like she was sleeping, but she noticed her bedroom window was open.
“The blinds looked like they had almost been ripped from the ceiling,” Finch said.
She said that’s when she went to her daughter.
“I went to shake her, and her skin was so cold,” Finch said. “When I was finally able to move her, it was very obvious that she was no longer alive.”
Finch said she knew immediately who was responsible.
Investigators later arrested Jacobean Brown and two other Whitewater students, Justus Smith and Yeshua Mathis, on murder charges.
In August, a jury found Brown guilty in Gesswein’s death after a week-long trial, and a judge sentenced him to life in prison.
Prosecutors said they showed the jurors text messages between the victim and the defendants, who were 18 at the time.
Prosecutors said the three teens went to Gesswein’s apartment, where Brown snuck in through her bedroom window.
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Brown shot the 15-year-old in the head while she was lying on her bed, according to the DA’s office.
Finch said Smith helped Investigators find the 9 mm pistol with an extended magazine that was hidden in a tree hole on a residential street in Fayette County.
She also said Mathis brought cleaning supplies.
“I’m very happy that Jacobean will spend the rest of his life in jail not because I wish that upon anybody but because it makes sure other women are safe,” Finch said. “These boys are predators of women. Jacobean specifically had a history of being violent towards women.”
Finch said she had even opened her home to Brown. She said he stayed with her and Madison off and on since November of 2022.
“When a child comes to you and says ‘I can’t go home. It’s not safe. I don’t have anywhere else to go,’ you extend them a place to stay,” Finch said.
But, she said she witnessed his temper during that time, especially after Brown’s father was murdered just days before he shot Gesswein.
Finch said Brown took a light from the world.
“It was like she was a ray of sunshine,” Finch said. “When she walked in a room, you knew where she was, and people were attracted to it… She’s really one of the best things you’d hope to see in people.”
Since the shooting, Finch has had to relive her pain through three separate trials.
After Brown learned his fate in August of 2024, a jury found Mathis not guilty in November, and Smith is currently serving eight years of probation.
His trial ended two weeks ago, and Finch even testified on his behalf.
“I really don’t believe Justus had any idea of how things were going to happen, and as soon as things went south, he tried to do the right thing… He was the only one of the three who ever cooperated with police and gave them any type of credible information,” Finch said.
However, the weight of everything started taking its toll on Finch who is also the caregiver for her adult son with autism.
“You can feel the massive hole in your heart from the loss, and you’re still expected to work, and pay bills, and talk to people,” Finch said.
Finch said after finding her daughter’s body, she started battling depression and anxiety. Then, she had to meet with police, district attorneys, and attend the trials.
“Once I started losing money from days off work, there wasn’t any catching up,” Finch said.
Finch was served an eviction notice for February 24. The date was three days after the second anniversary of her daughter’s death, and the same day as the last day of Smith’s trial.
“A lot of asking God for help and saying I can’t carry this… I really pushed the possibility of eviction almost out of my head because comparatively, it just didn’t matter,” Finch said.
That’s where her former pastor and church family at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Fayetteville stepped in to help.
They started a GoFundMe campaign to help Finch and her son keep a roof over their head.
“We want to keep that going so this can be a rental assistance program for Nancy,” Pastor Justin Kollmeyer said. “She doesn’t want someone to just pay her rent month after month, but if she comes short, then that fund will be there to make up the difference for a year or so.”
Finch said it was an answered prayer.
“That’s probably the most joy I’ve felt other than the day I walked out of the courthouse for the last time,” Finch said.
Now, she said she and her son can figure out what life looks like as a family of two, but she said she has peace knowing Gesswein impacted many lives in her short time.
“It was time for her to go back,” Finch said. “That doesn’t make our pain any less.”
If you’d like to help, you can donate here.
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