Maintenance man held in girl's death

CANTON, Ga.

- A 20-year-old maintenance man with no known criminal past was arrested yesterday in the beating death of a 7-year-old north Georgia girl who was abducted at the apartment complex where she lived and he worked, and was left dead in a trash bin.

Ryan Brunn, who also lived at complex, was jailed on a murder warrant, said Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vernon Keenan.

Authorities said Jorelys Rivera was last seen Friday night leaving the playground to walk back home to get drinks for her friends. They said they believe she was taken to an empty apartment, where she was sexually assaulted, stabbed and beaten to death. Her body was found Monday.

Brunn had keys to the empty apartment and the trash compactor bin where Rivera's body was left, Keenan said.

Steven Brunn said that his younger brother is not violent and that he doesn't believe he was involved in the slaying.