Inset: Sevance Brewer (Boone County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Authorities responding to the scene where he killed Brittany Toalson (KRCG).
A 33-year-old man in Missouri will spend decades behind bars for killing his pregnant girlfriend last year, fatally shooting her in front of her two young children.
Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Court Judge J. Hasbrouck Jacobs on Friday ordered Sevance Brewer to serve a sentence of life in a state correctional facility for the 2023 slayings of the 27-year-old Britanny Toalson and her unborn child, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Brewer reached a deal with prosecutors and agreed to plead guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped two counts of armed criminal action as well as one count of unlawful possession of a firearm.
Jacobs sentenced Brewer to two life sentences to be served concurrently, meaning at the same time. Under Missouri state law, a life sentence is 30 years and Brewer is required to serve at least 85% of his sentence before he will become eligible for parole.
According to a probable cause affidavit, deputies with the Boone County Sheriff’s Office on Aug. 1, 2023, responded to a call in the 4800 block of North Clearview Road regarding a reported assault with a weapon. Upon arriving, first responders located an adult female suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. She was later determined to be about four months pregnant at the time of her death.
The victim was later identified by family members to Columbia ABC affiliate KMIZ as Toalson.
Witnesses quickly provided investigators with statements identifying Brewer as the shooter. Additionally, footage from the victim’s doorbell camera showed Brewer leaving the victim’s residence immediately after the shooting “with a gun in his hand,” per the affidavit.
“During a post-Miranda interview with Sevance [Brewer] he stated he had been in an argument with [Toalson] that morning,” the document states. “Sevance [Brewer] stated he later obtained a Smith and Wesson handgun from a shelf. Sevance [Brewer] stated [Toalson] began to argue with him about the gun. Sevance [Brewer] stated he unholstered the gun and fired a shot. Sevance [Brewer] stated he observed [Toalson] fall back against the wall and began to bleed.”
Investigators later learned that two children approximately 3 to 4 years old were at the residence at the time of the shooting. Both children were with Brewer when he was arrested.
Following his arrest, investigators said Brewer led them to the murder weapon, which was hidden beneath a rock in a nearby creek bed.
Several of Toalson’s family members told KMIZ they were not happy with the deal Brewer was given following Friday’s sentencing hearing. Toalson’s mother, Tammy Toalson, said she had been hoping for the death penalty or life without parole.
“I do not feel justice was served and he looked like an idiot up there and he didn’t even apologize to us,” she told the station.
Toalson’s cousin, Turquise President, similarly said that Brewer didn’t even appear to regret killing Toalson.
“He didn’t feel nothing. No remorse,” President told the station. “He was a drug addict, period. He didn’t care about nothing but drugs and the damn game.”
The station also reported that Brewer had a history of domestic violence involving Toalson, with charges being filed against him in 2019 and 2021.
