Corrye Brewer’s death was ruled a homicide, but a year later, no arrest has been made

What might have seemed like a routine car ride for 97-year-old Corrye Brewer would end up being her last.

On a snowy early evening in January last year, Brewer and her driver, her daughter, Michelle Gilbert, 66, motored through the rolling hills of unincorporated El Paso County, passing beneath the giant wind turbines looming over houses scattered across the open fields. Strong winds buffeted the car.

Brewer, a beloved mother of seven, a longtime Fort Campbell, Ky., telephone operator who traveled widely in retirement, a woman who loved books, Western movies and crime mysteries, couldn’t have grasped the imminence of her own peril.

Before this drive with her daughter, authorities said Brewer was last seen Friday, Jan. 24, at the home in Peyton where she was living with Michelle and Milton Gilbert.

According to an 83-page investigative report from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, she was reported missing by Milton Gilbert late the next Saturday morning, Jan. 25.

Authorities found Brewer’s body on the ground near a parked red SUV outside an unoccupied house on Judge Orr Road in Calhan a day after that, on Jan. 26.

Exposed during that Friday night-to-Sunday period, Brewer would have suffered through wind chills and frigid temperatures as low as 16 degrees before dying from hypothermia, according to the El Paso County coroner’s report. 

She was “reportedly left outside” the evening of Jan. 24 “by her daughter,” the coroner found, without her walker, without her phone and no way to “return home, get to adequate shelter or call for help.”

The coroner’s office declined to comment beyond the autopsy report, but was explicit in finding Brewer’s cause of death: homicide.

Sheriff’s investigators launched a homicide investigation, noting that Brewer was wearing a gray zippered jacket, a white shirt, jeans and white tennis shoes when found. A winter coat was lying on the ground near her body.

Homicide case in limbo after no arrest

Sgt. Kurt Smith, a spokesperson from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, said detectives investigated multiple people in Brewer’s death, including her daughter, Michelle Gilbert. 

After meeting with the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in early August, investigators determined that there wasn’t probable cause to charge anyone in the case.

Initially, Smith told The Gazette in October that the case was closed. However, the Sheriff’s Office said in January that it was open but inactive, meaning there’s no new information to investigate.

“There are cases where people’s deaths are caused by another, but it doesn’t fit a criminal statute for charges,” Smith said. “A lot of the time, it can be self-defense, but there are also odd ones where we just can’t prove someone did it.”

Smith and other representatives of the Sheriff’s Office did not provide further explanation for why Gilbert could not be held criminally responsible. The Sheriff’s Office declined to make a case investigator available for an interview, with Smith saying “it doesn’t seem appropriate given the circumstances.”

The District Attorney’s Office has declined to comment on the case, telling The Gazette that it has not reviewed it beyond the discussion in August.

The Gazette reached out to Gilbert and her husband, Milton Gilbert, for comment multiple times through multiple methods during its five-month inquiry into the case. Neither responded.

Here is a timeline of events leading up to Brewer’s death:

Property owner finds Gilbert’s belongings

El Paso County Sheriff’s Office investigators tied Michelle Gilbert and her car to the unoccupied Calhan home through GPS tracking hours after Brewer was last seen. The vacant house where Brewer’s body was found is about 18 miles away from the Gilbert residence in Peyton.

In what is apparently a tragic twist in the case, investigators detail in the report that Gilbert had actually called the sheriff’s dispatch while at the unoccupied house that Friday night. But she did not provide her name or location, according to the sheriff’s report. At one point, Gilbert told the dispatcher that she was “pulling up her location,” but then she became unresponsive and the call was dropped.

Gilbert’s number was tracked to the Calhan location, and deputies were dispatched to the address, where they found Gilbert.

Body camera footage of the interaction obtained by The Gazette shows a white Lexus parked next to a red SUV. Deputies knocked on the door of the house, received no response, and may have been preparing to leave when they saw the Lexus starting to move away. They halted the driver, later identified as Gilbert, and engaged her.

During the encounter, Gilbert told the deputies, “My mom is in the car freezing … she needs to get to the hospital.” The deputies asked Gilbert which car. She responded, “In the other one.”

The deputies, confused, say “something’s real off,” suspecting Gilbert could be under the influence of a substance. However, she is ultimately allowed to drive away. The deputies apparently did not check the red SUV.

Two days later, Brewer’s body was found beside that vehicle, with the back passenger door open.

After the body’s discovery, the property owner, a man named Jason Bennett, was contacted by investigators and he allowed them to search the residence and the red SUV, which he said was inoperable. According to the sheriff’s report, the home, which was unlocked and undergoing renovation at the time, had personal belongings “scattered” throughout. This made it “extremely” hard to discover anything that would indicate Gilbert or Brewer had been inside, according to the sheriff’s report.

However, Bennett told The Gazette that he found several items that belonged to Gilbert inside the house more than two weeks after the sheriff’s search. He expressed concern that he might be considered a suspect in the case, took photos of the objects he found and shared those photos with The Gazette.

Evidence included was an iPhone and a key fob belonging to a Lexus. Also found was a white grocery-style bag containing receipts, IDs with Gilbert’s name on them, a password book and two Chase bank cards belonging to Gilbert and her husband, Milton Gilbert.

Bennett said he then later found Brewer’s dentures on the ground by the red SUV, which weren’t discovered until after deputies came by for the other evidence from inside the house.

“It felt like they (the Sheriff’s Office) didn’t care about this woman at all,” Bennett said of his interactions with investigators.

Bennett stressed that he did not know the Gilberts or Brewer.

Criminologist offers opinion

Patrick Brady, an associate criminology professor at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, reviewed both the deputies’ bodycam footage and the sheriff’s investigative report for The Gazette.

He said Gilbert acted “very” evasively during her interaction with the deputies at the unoccupied home, noting it was “weird” she didn’t persist in telling them where her mother was despite them asking several times.

“It raises suspicions, and it’s just another piece of the evidence that they can put together (for a case),” Brady said. “ … if she was truly concerned about her mom, even if she is in psychosis, why would she not bring it up over and over again?”

Brady also said the deputies could have handled the situation better and shouldn’t have let Gilbert go, saying it was a “major” missed opportunity for discovering Brewer’s presence.

During most of the interaction, one of the deputies stayed inside the patrol car as the other talked to Gilbert, the bodycam footage shows. Brady said this was “odd.” Even when the deputy did come out to speak, Brady pointed out he wasn’t shining his flashlight in the backseat of Gilbert’s car, which is “traffic stop 101.” 

“It wasn’t anything egregious … but I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving this woman until I get more information or at least get a co-responder out there,” he said. “It just feels weird leaving this older woman out.” 

In hindsight, Brady said, it’s easier to tell what’s going on. He noted the deputies didn’t know that Brewer was missing at the time. Regardless, he said, Gilbert was exhibiting signs of evasiveness and possible medical or mental concerns that should have raised red flags.

Cassandra Sebastian, a spokesperson with the Sheriff’s Office, said in an emailed statement that the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office patrol commander conducted an internal review of the incident to make sure the two deputies followed standard operating procedures.

“The review found no policy violations or misconduct,” Sebastian said in the email.

Since the case is still open, Brady said he believes there must be other evidence investigators are waiting on. “Otherwise, I don’t understand why you wouldn’t file an arrest warrant,” he said.

‘All of the pieces to the puzzle’

Andre Brewer, 55, Corrye Brewer’s youngest son, believes his mother could have been saved that night had the deputies checked the red car. He and others in the family are also adamant that Gilbert had something to do with Brewer’s death, and that the investigation was mishandled and is being “swept under the rug.”

“It was like, ‘Here are all of the pieces to the puzzle, but we can’t put it all together,’” Andre Brewer said about what he described as a seven-hour-long discussion he and other family members had with investigators after the case was made inactive.

Investigators told the family that they couldn’t pursue a criminal charge because of Gilbert’s documented mental health issues, and because they couldn’t prove she was there at the time of her mother’s death, Andre Brewer said.

During the discussion, investigators recommended pursuing a civil case, as there would be fewer “hoops” to jump through, Andre Brewer said.

Again, the Sheriff’s Office declined to make an investigator available to discuss the case.

What wasn’t brought up in the family’s lengthy conversation with authorities was the first night interaction that Gilbert had with the two deputies, which Andre Brewer said was “earth shattering” after viewing the footage and details in the sheriff’s report with The Gazette.

The Sheriff’s Office also tasked another deputy to search the premises of the unoccupied home the next night, Jan. 25, after Corrye Brewer was officially reported missing, the report shows. That deputy detailed in the report that he found “nothing suspicious” and that there were no recent track marks. He also mentions that he “looked in vehicles here” but doesn’t specify if the red SUV, where Brewer’s body lay, was one of them.

According to Bennett, at least two other vehicles were on the property, though further away from the house.

Andre Brewer said seeing all of this makes the Sheriff’s Office “look bad,” referring to the responding deputies’ minimal interaction with Gilbert and apparent failure to search the house and red SUV.

Possible competency issue

According to the sheriff’s report, Michelle Gilbert has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and frequently fails to take prescribed medications for the condition. Several deputies and detectives detail their interactions with her in the report, noting that she appeared to be in a “manic state.” 

During the court process, the defense could argue that Michelle Gilbert isn’t competent to stand trial, Brady, the criminology professor, said.

“This case has a lot of circumstantial evidence, but without the smoking gun evidence, the DA knows the case would be an uphill battle,” Brady said. “Circumstantial cases go to trial all the time, but the DA is (also) dealing with the mental health issues here.”

If it is the case that Michelle Gilbert wasn’t arrested out of competency concerns, the family believes that is a “cop out,” saying prosecutors should have gone through the court process to determine competency, Andre Brewer and others said.

While it would be difficult to prove, Brady said Gilbert could have been charged with intentional abandonment, neglect or abuse if it was decided investigators couldn’t substantiate a homicide charge.

Grandson’s account

A lifelong resident of Hopkinsville, Ky., Corrye Brewer was first thought to have been visiting family in Peyton when she went missing, the Sheriff’s Office reported in January 2025.

But it was more than just a visit, according to Jermaine Gilbert, 39, Brewer’s grandson, who moved to Colorado Springs with his parents, Michelle and Milton Gilbert, in 2008.

Sitting down outside a local coffee shop on a sunny Saturday afternoon, Jermaine Gilbert told The Gazette that his cherished grandmother, whom he described as his “second mother,” had been living with his parents after his mother showed up unannounced to others at Corrye Brewer’s home in Kentucky and “took her away.”

This, and an allegation that Michelle Gilbert was pushing a dementia narrative to obtain guardianship of her mother, caused tensions among the family, the sheriff’s report said. Tensions only increased when a sister warned Michelle Gilbert that their mother needed to be back in Kentucky by the end of January (2025) or she would go to court, according to the report. 

Jermaine Gilbert said his mother insisted that Corrye Brewer move in with her and her husband, as Brewer’s house in Kentucky was deteriorating and she had begun to develop memory issues.

He said that the living situation between his parents and grandmother had grown increasingly tense throughout the months because his mother had become tired of taking care of his grandmother.

Other members of the family claim Michelle Gilbert had other motives for moving her in.

Katheryn Browder, 76, another of Brewer’s daughters, alleged that all of her mother’s financial interests, including her bank accounts, were transferred to Michelle Gilbert’s name almost immediately after moving to Colorado. She said her mother had at least $100,000 in life insurance money after another of her sons, Jason, died from COVID-19.

“She wanted complete control of my mother. Period,” Browder said.

Michelle Gilbert also wanted power of attorney over her mother, according to Andre Brewer.

According to the sheriff’s report, a judge signed a warrant permitting investigators to access Corrye Brewer’s USAA bank accounts. Investigators documented in May that they had put in a request to the bank for the accounts. This is the last time the accounts are mentioned in the report.

Browder believes her sister didn’t intend to kill her mother. Instead, she thinks they got into a fight, which was a common occurrence, that Michelle got angry with her and then left her there at the house in Calhan as punishment, not realizing what she had done.

Left picking up the pieces  

During the investigation, Michelle Gilbert was reportedly “uncooperative” throughout, according to the report. In her only interview before she and her husband hired attorneys, she told detectives that she remembers driving out to Judge Orr Road the night her mother went missing, but gave an unintelligible answer when asked if her mom was with her at the time.

“Nobody else knew my grandmother well enough to the point where she would feel safe getting in a car with them,” Jermaine Gilbert said. 

After learning that his grandmother was missing, he immediately went to his parents’ home.

“It didn’t make any sense because from what my father had told me, my grandma had just walked out of the house. He said that he had come home, and all the doors were open, and grandma was gone,” he said. “It’s like, ‘OK, where is my mother and grandmother during this time period?’ Because my grandmother can’t drive, and she doesn’t usually leave the house without my mother.”

Another discrepancy, Jermaine Gilbert said, is that his family has never had any reason to go to that area in Calhan.

According to the family, Michelle and Milton Gilbert have remained silent about Brewer’s death.

Concerns about Brewer from family members were registered long before her death. A few months before her death, two daughters called for a welfare check on their mother and tried to file an elder abuse report with the Sheriff’s Office.

Browder said she and one of her sisters traveled to Colorado and arrived at Michelle Gilbert’s home with deputies and Adult Protective Services. The agencies spoke to their mother in front of Michelle Gilbert, despite Browder saying her mother wouldn’t speak ill of her daughter with her present. 

According to Browder, the deputies and APS said there wasn’t enough for a case, but they would monitor it. Browder said she was also informed by deputies that she could be arrested if she tried to take her mother from Brewer’s home.

The Sheriff’s Office declined to comment on that assertion.

Browder and other family members said Michelle Gilbert was very controlling of her mother, saying she would often listen in on their phone calls with the 97-year-old and cut them short if she didn’t like the conversation. The family also believes she would read text messages sent to their mother. 

“It was like mom was Michelle’s and not anyone else’s, but we’re all her children,” Andre Brewer said.

Another concern for the family was how Michelle Gilbert’s mental health impacted her ability to take care of Corrye Brewer, especially when she was in a manic state.

While the family said Michelle Gilbert was never violent toward her mother during these episodes, Jermaine Gilbert alleged she had a physical history with him and his father.

One of these incidents was documented by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office. According to a separate report obtained by The Gazette, Milton Gilbert had called dispatch in August 2016 for a reported domestic violence incident. 

When the deputy arrived, Milton Gilbert alleged that his wife had a history of mental health problems and had jumped him and “busted his lip,” though he later retracted the statement.

Several neighbors, all of whom spoke to The Gazette on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, recalled multiple instances of Michelle Gilbert yelling at residents, sparking up conflicts or just “screaming into the wind.”

One family provided a video to The Gazette showing a woman they say was Michelle Gilbert yelling at a man across the street from inside the garage of her home off Rockingham Drive. The family said the encounter lasted for several minutes and was over the man walking his dog.

Life of Corrye Brewer

Growing up in the South during the Jim Crow era, Corrye Brewer experienced profound racism, but her family said she never let it define her. She met her husband, George, at a young age. The couple married and had seven children, raising them all in the same home in Hopkinsville. Ky., for over 60 years of marriage before he died in 2006, public records show.

She worked as a phone operator at Fort Campbell in Kentucky for decades before retiring in the 1990s, according to her family. It was then that she unlocked her true passion: travel.

Browder, who used to work as a prison chaplain, would often travel for work, and she sometimes took her mother along with her.

“My mom became my best friend during those trips,” Browder said. “She was just a beautiful person.”

The two also journeyed to places like Egypt, South Africa and Jerusalem, Browder said, adding they traveled by both airplane and ship.

Browder recalled fondly when she and her mother went on a cruise to Alaska. The two talked for hours about “everything,” diving into chapters of her mother’s life that Browder had never heard before. Brewer talk about what she wanted for her for her children.

“She just wanted us to be happy,” Browder said. “She would always say, ‘We’re only here for a little while, so we should treat each day like it’s precious.’”

Corrye Brewer also loved watching Western movies and crime shows, reading books and working crossword puzzles, her family said.

Andre Brewer said his mother always had a book in hand and was ready to flex her intelligence in conversations. The two would often spend time chatting about life or watching murder mysteries together, something that bonded them when he became an adult.  

Both he and his nephew, Paul Brewer Jr., said Corrye Brewer was a role model who taught them how to be kind and shaped them into the men they are today.

“I’m going to remember her as my guiding light,” Jermaine Gilbert, Brewer’s grandson, said. “She was one of the best human beings I have ever known and was one of the only people I could really be myself with.”

Those memories bring solace, family members said. But it remains impossible to reconcile the woman they revered with the sheer brutality, the wrenching awfulness of what happened to her.

“Everyone is living — just trying to survive,” Andre Brewer said. ” … To add to it even more, someone in your family might have killed your mom … We just want justice and answers.”

They believe someone should atone for Corrye Brewer’s death.