Phyllis Brown Dies

Phyllis Brown, the widow of DeKalb County Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown, died Christmas Eve. She was 52.

Brown died about 9:30 p.m. Sunday at the DeKalb Medical Center. Brown died of heart failure, following respiratory distress, said her daughter, Brandy Rhodes, who had cared for her mother after a debilitating stroke.

She had fallen ill on the afternoon of Christmas Eve, and was taken to DeKalb Medical Center by ambulance, Rhodes said.

At the time of her death, her children were at the hospital, her daughter said.

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"It's three things that hit her," Champion said of Phyllis Brown. "First, she witnessed her own husband getting killed in the driveway of her home. Then she suffered this big stroke. Then the Supreme Court denied her case against DeKalb County [holding it liable for her husband's murder]. How much more can a body take?"

In addition to her daughter, Brown is survived by her mother, Bertha Oliver, 89, of Stone Mountain, stepson Marlon Robinson of Stone Mountain, sons Maurice Douglas, of Lithonia, Robert Brown, of Decatur, and Michael Brown of Stone Mountain, and eight grand-children.

Rest In Peace, Phyllis.