TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - The man facing murder charges in the death of 33-year-old Tiffany Nance now has a public defender and a judge has ordered that he not be released on bond.
29-year-old Bryon Heath Massey made his first court appearance in Leon County Saturday morning.
In late January, Leon County detectives say a local hunter was walking through an area in the Ochlocknee River Wildlife Management Area, where he found Nance's body.
Massey faces charges after the Leon County Sheriff's Office received information that showed DNA from Massey matching DNA from the crime scene.
Detectives discovered Massey had been wearing a GPA monitor around the time of the homicide, saying that monitor shows Massey at the crime scene on January 28th, and returning to the scene two days later.
Still no word on a motive or how Massey may have known Nance.
Massey was already in the Leon County Jail on other charges. He's also a registered sex offender and has been in and out of prison for the past decade.
According to the Florida Department of Corrections' website, Massey was charged with burglary and grand theft of a motor vehicle in 1997, staying behind bars until 2001.
In 2006, he was charged with a handful of crimes, including sexual battery. Massey was released in 2009 after serving time for those crimes, then wound up back behind bars, four months later.
Nance's family says her death has taken a huge toll.
"She's always had a relationship with her children, no matter what lifestyle she lived," said family member Vanessa Henry. "We returned her to Tallahassee here a few months ago in order for them to be closer with her and unfortunately the tragedy happened, but Im grateful that we were here and they were able to spend time with her. I'm expecting justice for her murder and there is a lot of pain still with the family."
Henry says the Nance family plans to seek the death penalty.
Stick with WTXL as we continue to cover this story.
