'I'm a sick guy': Polk County man accused of murdering 4, including mother and infant, denied bond

POLK COUNTY, Fla. - A judge is keeping a man in jail after he’s accused of murdering four people in Lakeland. 

The judge denied bond for Bryan Riley in court Monday morning.

He’s a former Marine, who described himself as a "survivalist" and said he was high on meth.

Detectives said they found no connection between the shooter and the victims, and the killings were random.

Riley was mostly silent during his first appearance in a Polk County courtroom. 

He only replied when asked about an attorney.

"Yes. I just don’t know who exactly yet," Riley said.

Investigators took Riley into custody Sunday. He is facing a list of charges, including first-degree murder after deputies said he shot and killed four people, including an infant, in their Lakeland home Sunday morning.

"When you see someone so heartless, so calculated, that they will shoot a mother clinging to her 3-month-old baby and kill the baby and shoot the family dog, this guy is heartless and calculated," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.

Deputies first responded to a call from a woman Saturday night who said Riley showed up at the home and told the woman.

"God sent me here to speak with one of your daughters." 

He was gone by the time deputies arrived. 

Hours later, deputies responded to a call nearby from someone who heard gunshots at the same home they responded to earlier.

When they got to the home, they found Riley outside dressed in camouflage and wearing body armor. He ran back into the home and neighbors heard more gunshots.

"They don’t even make movies like this because that’s just past what you can wrap your head around, to senselessly harm a child," Sylvia Shireman, a neighbor, said.

Deputies said a 3-month-old baby was still in the 33-year-old mother’s arms when they were found dead inside the home. Justice Gleason, 40, was also found dead, as well as a 62-year-old woman.

"We can tell you that they were huddling and hiding in fear," Judd said.

An 11-year-old girl was shot several times but survived and is now at the hospital. 

Riley also shot at deputies before he surrendered.

"When someone chooses to give up, we take them into custody peacefully. If he had given us the opportunity, we would have shot him up a lot. But, he didn’t because he was a coward," Judd said.

The 11-year-old girl is expected to survive. 

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office cannot confirm the relationships of the victims, other than saying they are related.

According to the arrest report, when asked why he did this, Riley told deputies, "Because I’m a sick guy. I want to confess to all of it and be sent to jail."