CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — WARNING: The details in this case are graphic.

According to new details unveiled in court on Friday, a man arrested in the disappearance of a Clayton County mother choked her to death and set her body on fire.

Brianna Winston’s family reported her missing on April 1.

On Thursday, detectives issued an arrest warrant for malice murder for Michale Edwards, the father of Winston’s four-year-old child.

Channel 2′s Tom Jones was inside the courtroom for Edwards’ first appearance on Friday as the judge read from the warrant.

Judge Betrice Scott said Edwards choked Winston during an argument. He then placed Winston’s body in a suitcase, traveled across state lines to Tennessee with his co-defendant and set it on fire in a barrel, according to the warrant.

The judge said it was all an effort to cover up the murder. She denied Edwards bond.

Winston’s family said that at the time of her disappearance, her four-year-old daughter had been staying with Edwards, and no one had heard from Winston in weeks.

Police later identified Edwards and his wife, Brienna Phillips-Edwards, as two people of interest. On April 8, jail records show police arrested Edwards on an aggravated stalking charge.

Police also arrested Phillips-Edwards on a felony false statement charge. According to the warrant, she gave false information to police and tried to provide her husband with an alibi as officers questioned her about Winston’s disappearance.

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