A Georgia man has been charged with the murder of his childhood friend after the former confronted him for inappropriately touching his wife.
Buffy Cothern said 29-year-old Brandon Frick inappropriately touched her arm while she and her husband were giving him a ride in Waycross on March 13.. She said she was driving and pulled over, and her husband, 35-year-old Jacob Cothern, told his friend to get out of the car for disrespecting his wife.
What happened next, Buffy explained in detail: "Brandon pulled a gun, shot Jacob one time, and when I see my husband ... He fell to the ground, and Brandon is telling him, 'Get up and take me home,'" she said. "Jacob's holding a hand up: 'No, Brandon, please stop. We don't have to do it like this.' When he realized that Jacob couldn't get up ... He shot him again, and casually puts the gun back and just takes off walking. Like no remorse whatsoever."
Officers said they arrived at the scene close to 8:30 p.m. and found Jacob with multiple gunshot wounds. A short distance away, they encountered Frick, still armed and attempting to leave the area. They took him into custody. Frick is now being held at the Ware County Jail, charged with murder.
Buffy Cothern described her husband as funny, outgoing, and impossible to ignore. "He was very loud," she said, smiling. The couple married in 2024.
She said her husband was turning his life around when he was killed, adding that had been out of incarceration for nearly two years, the longest stretch in almost a decade of his life and also beat a drug addiction. She said he landed a job with Waycross Public Works and earned three promotions in a single year.
"He provided me the love and consistency that I've never had before," Buffy said.
