EXCLUSIVE Anguished father of double murder suspect Sarah Grace Patrick is seen visiting daughter in jail after admitting 'it doesn't look good'
Doniel Patrick, 43, appeared anguished as he stood outside the Carroll County detention facility on Sunday, smoking and raking his hands through his hair, after visiting the 17-year-old who has been in custody since July 8.
The teenager is charged with two counts of murder and two of aggravated assault over the deaths of mom Kristin, 41, and stepdad James Brock, 45, who were found with multiple gunshot wounds inside their home in Carrollton, 45 miles west of Atlanta, on February 20.
Patrick, who shares Sarah Grace and her 12-year-old brother Donnie, with his late ex-wife Kristin, was joined at the jail with his girlfriend Katie and his young son for the visit that lasted about an hour.
'Sarah Grace maintains her innocence, we believe her,' Katie told DailyMail.com. 'We are all supporting her. It's a very difficult time,' she said, adding that Sarah is due to meet with her lawyers on Monday.
'After that, we will [speak] to the press, to make sure we advocate for Sarah Grace.
'For now, we are going to sit back for a second, just to make sure everything is in her benefit and not in her hinderance.'
The high school graduate turned herself in to police escorted by her father last Tuesday after a warrant was issued for her arrest, the Carroll County Sheriff's Office said.
Authorities have not yet revealed a motive for the killings and say the investigation is ongoing and further arrests could be made. Bail was initially denied due to the serious nature of the charges.
Doniel – known to many as DJ - has largely maintained his silence since his daughter's arrest, save for a couple of cryptic Facebook posts about being in her 'corner' and his intention to 'focus' on his kids.
Most recently, he shared a quote which read: 'Don't ever judge anyone on how they handle a pain you've never felt.'
On Friday afternoon, Patrick's public defender, Latoya Williams, filed a motion for a bond to be set so she can be released from prison on bail.
In court documents seen by DailyMail.com, Williams states: 'The Defendant asserts her presumption of innocence and further states that she will not improperly leave the jurisdiction of this court or fail to appear when required, is not a threat or danger to any person or property in the community and poses no significant risk to re-offend or to intimidate witnesses or justice.
'Accordingly, the Defendant requests that a hearing on this motion be held on the next regularly scheduled calendar for bond hearings following the undersigned date and that bond be set in a reasonable amount.'
A hearing for the bond motion has yet to be set and Williams has yet to respond to a request for comment about Patrick's case.
The family's prison visit comes after cops searched Patrick and Katie's home - and at least one other where the teenager could have stayed - over the weekend as they continue to investigate the murders.
A relative of Katie's angrily revealed that her door had been kicked in on Friday by cops who wanted to search the property where Katie had previously lived.
Multiple family members said Patrick and Katie's home was also searched, with Dennis Nolan, Sarah's maternal grandfather, speculating they were looking for the missing gun used in the shootings.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Carroll County Sheriff Department for comment on the case.
Ashley Hulsey, head of communications, for the force said she would not be able to provide further information beyond what was in the press conference or comment on speculation.
Patrick's mother, Donna Arnett exclusively told DailyMail.com of her son's heartbreak and worry over her granddaughter's arrest, saying 'all he can do is cry'.
She said: 'DJ, he believes his daughter, he wants to believe her, but he said there's so much evidence, and all, it don't look good.
'He says about what they've showed him, and then he breaks down, and says 'I gotta get off the phone, Momma'.
'He's just distraught.'
Investigators claim they have compiled a 'mountain' of digital and physical evidence which led to Patrick's arrest, including footage of her apparently tearful eulogy at her mother and stepfather's funeral, which DailyMail.com exclusively revealed last week.
Asked what evidence her son had been shown, Arnett replied: 'He said they showed pictures of Kristin and James dead, like wherever they took them to a crime scene place or something like that, and he told me about where they were shot.
'I think he said Kristin was shot behind the ear, the temple, the torso. And that James was shot like in the temple, head, nose, or something, and in the chest or the torso. That's all he said.'
She revealed her son's fears over his daughter's incarceration, adding: 'DJ is worried that now she's in jail. She don't eat very much. She didn't eat very much here. DJ said she's lost about 15 pounds now in jail.
'All he can do to me is cry. He just cries [saying] 'mama, you know, these kids been through so much, what am I going to do?'
'He says, 'I can't do nothing. She called me from jail crying, wanting to come home.'
Arnett, who housed her son and granddaughter for two weeks after the February murders, added: 'I just pray to God that she wasn't involved with it, because she ruin her life now then.
'She's always been a very polite and loving child and everybody's talking so bad about her now.
'Like I told my son, if she did that, she needs to pay for it. He agrees.
'He's just so distraught, heartbroken about his baby. His little girl.
'DJ, he's tender hearted. He loves his kids and will do anything for his kids.'
Asked whether she believes her granddaughter could have carried out the brutal shootings, she said: 'I'm just in a state of shock.
'I pray not. It's hard to fathom, she just don't seem like that. She was always a very respectful, loving child.
'It just boggles me. I say there's something not right about all this. I just don't see her doing this.
'It's just hard to believe. You don't want to believe, nothing like that, but you don't know.'
Patrick and Katie, who live about an hour outside Carrollton, drove straight to the jail after attending Sunday service at the town's Catalyst church, where they are active members, and so were the Brocks.
Patrick looked downcast after leaving the service with his girlfriend, before they collected his son Donnie from a kid's class on the site.
Speaking exclusively to the Mail, Catalyst lead pastor Ben Bonner said Patrick, Katie and Donnie had joined the church – an hour's drive from where they live - shortly after the murders of the Brocks, who had been very active members of the same church.
He said the church community were trying to show 'love' to the family. He revealed he had already spoken to Patrick over the phone and said he and an assistant pastor were going to go and see her in jail as soon as it could be arranged.
He added: 'I actually prayed with Sarah Grace over the phone yesterday. She's grieving, she's not faking grief, I'll tell you. Anybody thinks that, [is wrong] that girl is hurting and my job's to love.'
Over the weekend, the Daily Mail revealed how the teenage girl had curated a chilling portrait of grief on social media for months after the brutal killings of her mother and stepfather.
The high school graduate posted tributes, tearful selfies, and even pleas for justice – but never hinting that she might be the one behind the murders.
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.
Popular TikTok True Crime creators have come forward to reveal Patrick reached out to them weeks before her arrest to ask for help getting coverage of the case.
Since Patrick's arrest, true crime communities on social media have erupted, dissecting her content and questioning what could have possibly driven an angel-faced teen to allegedly murder her parents.
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