YULEE, Fla. – A Jacksonville Beach mother is remembering her daughter Friday, whose body was found in woods behind a Nassau County bar this week.
Brandi Nanan, 35, was found dead Monday in a wooded area along U.S. 17 in Nassau County, the Camden County Sheriff's Office said. The woods were near the Florida-Georgia border behind Casey's Liquor and Lounge.
Now, two days before Mother’s Day, Nanan’s four children are dealing with the loss of their mother. Nanan's mother, Sheryl Lawson, told News4Jax that her daughter was a kind woman.
“She would go out of her way to help people when she really should've been helping herself, but she just wasn't like that, she was going to give,” Lawson said.
Lawson said she can't understand how this happened.
The family has set up a GoFundMe account to help with living expenses for Nana's four children.
She knew her daughter was going to be in South Georgia with friends, but has never heard of the man charged in her murder, 35-year-old Charles Casey, who’s the son of the owner of Casey's Liquor and Lounge.
According to Casey’s arrest warrant, he told someone Sunday morning, that he'd been doing drugs and hurt someone.
Police found Nanan's truck in St. Marys, Georgia, with blood both inside and outside of it. Lawson said she believes her daughter tried to fight off her attacker. She called the mug shot of Casey telling, with scratches seen on his face.
“She’s 5-foot-2. She was a fighter. She's fighting right now, helping me do this, and I'm doing this for her children. I promised them that I would be there to make sure justice was done and that's what my goal is from today on,” Lawson said.
Lawson told News4Jax’s Ashley Mitchem that she’s simply heartbroken by the loss.
“Always say, ‘I love you.’ No matter if they leave mad, always say, ‘I love you.’’ Lawson said. “I have comfort because I made sure that I did.”
Nanan's older sister, Megan Elkins, said Nanan’s children are doing their best to stay positive.
“I think that everybody is still in shock, or still trying to process everything, after we have a funeral,” Elkins said.
Nanan's mother and father will be taking in her four grandchildren, who range in age from 9 to 17.
They have set up a crowdfunding site to help care for the children. Click here to donate.