UPDATE: Jury convicts man in Brooke Sides hit-and-run death

Prosecutors say Nathan Shane Upchurch was sentenced to five years in prison following Wednesday’s verdict.

UPDATE (5/21/26): A Butts County jury has convicted Nathan Shane Upchurch in the death of Brooke Bedard Sides, according to the Towaliga Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office.

The DA’s Office says Upchurch was convicted Wednesday in Sides’ hit-and-run death. Following the verdict, a judge sentenced Upchurch to five years in prison, which prosecutors said was the maximum sentence for the offense of conviction.

ORIGINAL STORY (10/23/23):

JACKSON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) –A man is in jail, charged with murder and hit and run after the Georgia Bureau of Investigation says a woman was found dead in her driveway on October 20.

According to the GBI, Butts County Sheriff’s Office deputies found 51-year-old Brooke Bedard Sides dead in her driveway on Watkins Park and Pool Road in Jackson. They say 50-year-old Nathan Shane Upchurch ran her over as he was leaving after they had been arguing.

The GBI says the investigation is active and ongoing.

If you have any information, call the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office at (478) 445-5102 or the GBI regional investigative office in Milledgeville at (478) 445-4173.

Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.