Joint Funeral Planned For Strangled Mom, Toddler in Gwinnett

BUFORD, GA — A joint funeral service has been scheduled for Natalie and Cole Nation — the mother and 2-year-old boy police say were strangled to death Sunday in their Buford home.

The service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Welcome Avenue Congregational Holiness Church in Crawford. Visitation will be Thursday from 6-8 p.m. at Lord and Stephens Funeral Home in Athens.

Brandon Williams, 32, of Buford has been charged with felony murder and aggravated assault in the deaths of Natalie, 30, and Cole, who were renting a room in a home owned by Williams' father.

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A GoFundMe campaign has been started to help defray the funeral costs for the mother and toddler. As of Thursday morning, $5,090 had been raised toward a $20,000 goal.

The two were killed in an attack that happened shortly before 11 p.m. Sunday at a home on Tybee Drive in Buford.

Police say the attack happened while Williams' father was outside working on a car in the driveway.

Police received a 911 call from the homeowner, saying that his son had choked a mother and child that lived at the house, then walked up the street to a gas station.

Williams was confronted by police at the gas station and arrested without incident. Both victims were transported to the hospital, where the baby died on Sunday and Natalie Nation died Monday morning.

Williams is being held without bond at the Gwinnett County Detention Center.

In court Tuesday, Williams denied any guilt, argued that he was being detained illegally and even appeared to make the strange claim that Natalie and Cole are still alive.

"I’m just trying to figure out how you murder somebody when they are at the same residence right now running around," Williams said to a judge during an initial court hearing.

Police have not publicly announced what they believe to have been the motive in the attacks. Initial police reports said there was not believed to be any sort of personal relationship between Williams and the victims.

Photo via GoFundMe