Chief Mike Burns arrives to brief reporters about the murder charge against McDaniel.
Private K-9 investigator Fred Golba (foreground)
Macon police chief Mike Burns said the evidence in the Lauren Giddings murder investigation led only to the suspect, Stephen McDaniel.
SLIDESHOW: Stephen McDaniel August 3rd Hearing
McDaniel was charged last night with felony murder in Giddings' death. Today, Burns briefed reporters at the Macon police detective bureau.
In a prepared statement, Burns said:
"We interviewed many people of interest. Those interviews led to more people we needed to talk to. All of the evidence that we have -- that we received back -- ended up linking to one person."
In announcing that the case was solved after weeks of investigation and growing public anxiety, he said: "I hope this is comfort to the family and our citizens. But remember, every citizen is considered innocent until proven guilty."
He said police collected over 200 pieces of evidence but would not discuss them. He would not say where investigators believe Lauren Giddings was killed, or how.
"It's not our job to try anyone in the media or the court of public opinion," he said.
Burns said police would continue to investigate up until a trial.
Today, Macon police crime-scene investigators returned to the Georgia Avenue apartment complex where Lauren Giddings and Stephen McDaniel lived.
Burns said investigators were photographing the inside of Lauren Giddings' apartment. The investigators, wearing rubber gloves, spent about three hours at the scene.
Bibb County District Attorney Greg Winters declined to say if McDaniel would face additional charges.
Winters said McDaniel is charged with felony murder, which he defined as taking someone's life in the commission of a felony.
When asked what the felony was, Winters would not comment.
Winters says it has not been decided whether to seek the death penalty, or when to put the case before a grand jury.
Asked how it felt to have solved the case under intense publicity, Burns said: "This case was handled the same way as any other homicide case by my detectives. As long as we had any kind of leads or clues, we followed them."