‘The person I know would have never done this’: Friend reacts to killings on Drake Lane
For the past several weeks, Krista Brady was struggling with mental health issues, her friend said, and she could tell it was getting worse.
Then word came down Sunday that Krista Brady shot and killed her family on Drake Lane in Horry County.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Mary Ann Cline said. “My friend, the person, I know, would have never done this.”
On March 29, Horry County police went to Drake Lane for the shooting. Krista Brady, 42, her husband Brian Brady, 47 and their daughter Teagan Brady, 9, were all shot and killed.
Friends said Krista shot and killed her family. Neighbors who called 911 identified her as the shooter, according to police radio traffic. Officers also discussed Krista Brady as the potential shooter on several occasions, according to the radio traffic.
Horry County police spokeswoman Mikyala Moskov said the preliminary investigation showed Krista Brady was the “primary aggressor” in the incident and her actions resulted in the death of her family members.
Krista Brady suffered from mental health issues and reached out to Cline about a month before the shooting, Cline said. Krista believed people were out to get her, and Cline described Krista as “possessed.”
Cline said she spoke to Krista on Tuesday and could tell she was not doing well.
“I could tell she was afraid,” Cline said.
Cline said she reached out to Brady’s family to try to get them involved in her care. Attempts to reach parents of both Krista and Brian Brady were not successful. Several neighbors on Drake Lane have declined to comment on the incident.
The shooting happened on Teagan’s ninth birthday, Cline said. Krista, in better times, loved her husband and daughter.
“She was 100 percent about that baby,” Cline said. “She loved her family.”
The family used to live in West Virginia — and were big West Virginia University Mountaineer fans, Cline said. There, Krista worked in a tanning salon and Brian had a series of jobs. The family moved to the Myrtle Beach area after the jobs in the coal mines — one field in which Brian Brady worked — grew scarce and to escape the colder climates.
Krista loved heavy metal music and trips with her girlfriends, Cline said. Their most recent trip was to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, for shopping and a good time.
Brian Brady was an accountant, operated a bar and worked in the West Virginia coal mines, Cline said. Brian most recently worked in landscaping in the Myrtle Beach area.
“He was a jack of all trades,” Cline said.
Teagan was a typical 9-year-old, Cline said, who her mom obsessed over.
“She was just a sweetheart,” Cline said of Teagan.
