Troy Brake might be linked to several unsolved prostitute slayings.

As she sat in Troy Brake's pickup truck, a Grand Rapids woman said she found herself struggling for her life as the man now under investigation for a quadruple homicide beat and choked her. Mary Louise Parker, 43, described the brutal Oct. 16 attack in a courtroom Friday. She testified against Brake, a 31-year-old man charged in the Grand Rapids attack on her and a separate Sept. 1 shooting. "He was kicking me and beating me," a nervous-looking Parker said. "He was like crazy." She described how Brake dragged her by her hair and held a gun to her temple. Parker suffered black eyes, a bloody nose, a bruised lip and neck injuries.
Several days after he was arrested in that Oct. 16 attack, Brake was named a suspect in a Wright Township quadruple murder and arson -- the Sept. 29 deaths of Shermaine Zimmer, 53; her two sons, Jeremy, 20, and Tyler, 17, and Jeremy's friend, Katherine Brown, 18. They were found dead in the Zimmers' home in northeastern Ottawa County, which had been set ablaze after the Zimmers were shot and Brown was beaten to death.
Also, Grand Rapids police since have said they are investigating whether Brake might be linked to several unsolved prostitute slayings.

After Friday's hearing, Grand Rapids District Court Judge Michael Christensen ordered Brake to stand trial for two counts of attempted murder, first-degree criminal sexual conduct, felonious assault and felony firearms. He is held on a $2 million bond.

Brake's family declined comment outside court Friday.

Posted in: Grand Rapids