A 17-year-old girl charged with murdering her mother and stepfather looked as though she didn’t have a care in the world, smiled broadly when she arrived at court for her bond hearing, Daily Mail’s exclusive photos show.
But Sarah Grace Patrick collapsed into uncontrollable sobs the moment the judge announced she would be held without bail, as gasps and quiet exclamations of ‘thank God’ echoed from the victims’ loved ones.
Her arrival at court was the first time the angel-faced teen was seen since her arrest on July 9. She was snapped arriving at the Carroll County Superior Court after getting out of a police cruiser at 8am, wearing a neon green prison-issued jumpsuit with her wrists in chains.
The teenager, her hair pulled back in a tidy braid, smiled and laughed with another young inmate in an orange jumpsuit, clutching a yellow folder as they waited to be called into the courtroom.
But as the teen sat beside her public defender, Latoya Williams, her facial expression crumpled several times as she anxiously waited to learn if supportive witness testimonies from her family and friends would convince Judge Dustin Hightower to release her on bond to the care of her loved ones sat just feet behind her.
Patrick was arrested last month and charged with two counts of murder and two counts of aggravated assault back in July after her mother, Kristin Brock, 41, and stepfather, James Brock, 45, were found with multiple gunshot wounds inside their home in Carrollton, 45 miles west of Atlanta, Georgia, on February 20.
In the months before her arrest – which cops said was sparked by ‘a mountain’ of digital and physical evidence – the high school graduate curated a chilling portrait of grief on social media and even contacted TikTok true crime creators for help in ‘solving’ her parents’ brutal murder.
Although Patrick has yet to enter a formal plea in court, she is understood to deny the charges and has protested her innocence through her family members and her lawyer.
Angel-faced teen Sarah Grace Patrick, who stands accused of killing her mom and stepdad, walked into the Carroll County Superior Courthouse, appearing carefree with a big smile planted across her face
After settling in the courtroom beside her public defender, Latoya Williams (left), Patrick’s smiles quickly gave way to tears as she was denied bail
Her biological father, Doniel ‘DJ’ Patrick, has staunchly defended his daughter on social media, insisting she did not commit the brutal killings, with his girlfriend, Katie, exclusively telling Daily Mail: ‘Sarah Grace maintains her innocence, we believe her’.
And he had told friends ahead of the hearing that he believed it would be a ‘great day.’
But just half an hour into the hearing of witness statements, it all became too much for DJ, who left his front-seat seat behind his daughter in tears and was comforted outside by supporters wearing grey ‘I Stand with Sarah Grace’ t-shirts and formed a prayer circle around him.
During the dramatic, nearly two-hour hearing, the teen’s smiling face became the picture of devastation as the judge denied her attorney’s motion for bail and said the State had ‘met their burden by preponderance of the evidence’ from witnesses who said they would feel unsafe if she were to be released.
James Brock’s sister, Kim Bowling, gave a tearful witness statement about the impact of losing her brother, saying: ‘I not only lost my brother but also my sister, in law, in the most horrific way imaginable.
‘Every night I lie awake unable to sleep, haunted by the thought of what my bro Jamie and Kristin experienced in those final moments
‘When the possibility they were awake when the defendant entered the room with a gun, and I imagine their terror with their final breaths.
‘My five-year-old niece was then woken up to find her parents lifeless, the trauma this innocent child will carry for the rest of her life is unfathomable.’
Her biological father, Doniel ‘DJ’ Patrick, left the courtroom just 30 minutes into the witness statements, abandoning his front-row seat behind his daughter in tears
Outside, he was comforted by supporters wearing gray ‘I Stand with Sarah Grace’ T-shirts, who formed a prayer circle around him
The 17-year-old alleged killer arrived for her bond hearing in a neon green prison jumpsuit and her hair braided as she chatted with a fellow inmate
James Brock’s sister Kim Bowling (right) gave an emotional testimony saying she couldn’t understand how Patrick could cause ‘such unimaginable pain’ and later told Daily Mail how thankful she was that her step-niece would stay behind bars
Bowling said she would never understand why Patrick had caused ‘such unimaginable pain’ and had ‘shown she is capable of extreme violence and manipulation’.
After the hearing, she told Daily Mail, ‘Thank God’ Patrick wasn’t released, adding that she couldn’t even bring herself to look at the tearful teen while reading her witness statement.
But despite some family members turning their backs on Patrick, an emotional DJ, his girlfriend Katie and Patrick’s other supporters were seen arriving at court this morning with their matching T-shirts.
Patrick’s maternal grandfather, Dennis Nolan, was also there to support Patrick, having repeatedly protested his granddaughter’s innocence.
The provisional trial date of January 5, 2026, means Patrick faces an extended stretch in jail, where the court heard she is being held in solitary confinement for her own safety and due to her age.
Patrick’s public defender, Williams, had petitioned the court to ‘protect the presumption of innocence’ the teen relies on ahead of her trial and insisted the teen was not a flight risk and urged the judge to impose conditions to allow her out on bail.
Williams produced six witnesses and eight character letters in a bid to convince the judge to allow her out on pre-trial release.
Among the witnesses was Patrick’s father’s girlfriend, Kaitlin ‘Katie’ O’Keefe, who told how she first met the teenager three days after the February 20 shootings and took her shopping for clothes and essentials, after cops shut up her belongings in the family home.
DJ was seen walking out of the courtroom alongside his girlfriend, Kaitlin ‘Katie’ O’Keefe (left), who had given a witness testimony during the hearing. She recounted that in the days following the murders, Patrick would often lie in bed with her, sobbing uncontrollably
Family friend Carrie Jenson, who had previously shared alleged text messages from Patrick in which the 17-year-old expressed her gratitude, was seen walking out of the courtroom after the hearing
Numerous family members of the teen sat in the courtroom to show their support during her bond hearing, as many have publicly stated they believe in her innocence
Daily Mail obtained text messages allegedly sent by Patrick from jail to family friend Jenson, later shared in a supporters’ Facebook group, in which she expressed gratitude for the support, shared positive news and conveyed how much she missed her loved ones
Patrick was arrested last month and charged with two counts of murder and two counts of aggravated assault stemming from the February 20 shooting deaths of her mother, Kristin Brock, 41, and stepfather, James Brock, 45, who were found with multiple gunshot wounds inside their home in Carrollton, about 45 miles west of Atlanta, Georgia.
According to police, Kristin and James Brock were fatally shot while sleeping in their Carrollton home, and Patrick, then 16, was present during the incident and called 911 after her five-year-old half-sister, Jaley, found their bodies
In response to questions from Williams, O’Keefe said Patrick stayed with her and would just ‘cry and sob’ in bed and had never posed any disciplinary issues.
Prior to the hearing, Daily Mail obtained text messages purportedly sent by Patrick from jail to family friend Carrie Jenson, who shared them with a supporters’ Facebook group.
In an apparent screenshot of one message, Patrick thanked her loved ones, saying: ‘…If I could say anything, I’d say I’m beyond grateful [sic] for the support and prayers and for y’all giving me a voice, it means more than anyone could imagine (sic).’
In another message to Jenson, she wrote, ‘Yes maam and it was good news yesterday. I love yall and im so beyond proud of you and miss you guys so dang much.’
Daily Mail also exclusively revealed the often chaotic childhood of Patrick, during which her biological father accused her mother and stepfather of abusing drugs and being ‘unsafe’ to care for her as part of a bitter custody battle.
Authorities have not yet revealed a motive, but the late couple’s loved ones have hit out at ‘victim-blaming’ and denied their pasts had anything to do with their murders.
But court documents unearthed by Daily Mail provided an insight into the accused teen’s often chaotic childhood, which appears to have been blighted by her mom and stepfather’s alleged drug use.
In 2018, Doniel Patrick filed for divorce from his wife, Kristin Nolan Patrick, after a 10-year marriage during which they had Sarah Grace and her younger brother, Donnie, 12, while living in Acworth, Georgia.
In the months after the killings, Patrick had posted numerous TikToks about the murders and shared selfies of herself mourning her parents, including one on her way to their funeral and another of her crying into her mother’s clothing
During her childhood, Patrick was caught in a bitter custody battle between her father, DJ, and her mother, who was allegedly struggling with drug use at the time, and even wrote a letter to the court pleading to live with her dad
In court papers, Doniel, 43, demanded joint legal custody of the kids with ‘primary physical custody of the parties’ minor child’ and that any visits between his estranged wife and the children be supervised until she could prove she was clean and sober.
Under their July 2018 divorce order, the pair agreed on joint legal custody of the children, with primary physical custody given to the mother, and the father seeing them on alternate weekends and holidays.
Police say Kristin and James Brock were both shot dead as they slept in their home in Carrollton.
Patrick, who was 16 at the time, was inside the house during the killings and called 911 after her then-five-year-old half-sister Jaley discovered the lifeless bodies.
There were no immediate suspects or leads, and the couple’s death at first seemed like a mysterious tragedy that had left two young girls without a family.
For months, Patrick played the grieving daughter who was coping with an unimaginable loss, delivering a tearful eulogy at the funeral and sharing heartbreaking TikTok videos about her slain parents.
Cops and loved ones of the victims said Patrick’s tearful eulogy made them suspicious, but her supporters say it was a natural reaction to her grief.
