Patrina Best’s travels took her across the country, leaving behind an imprint on the lives she helped as an operating room nurse, her family said.
On Feb. 17, she did the same routine before heading to her next job in Hawaii, storing and bringing her things from her last assignment in Georgia to Prince George’s County — this time bringing her college friend Carl Kearney Jr. with her to help move, according to family.
Best never made it to Hawaii. Kearney, a high school football coach from Griffin, Ga., is accused of strangling Best to death inside her parents’ home and confessing to the crime to police, prosecutors said.
“He was a friend that was supposed to be helping her and instead did this,” Gianina Best, who called her sister her “best friend,” said in a statement. “It’s sick and awful.”
Kearney, 43, is charged with first- and second-degree murder and related counts in the killing of Best, 38. A Prince George’s County District Court judge continued to hold Kearney without bond last week. His attorney did not ask for his no-bond status to be reviewed, saying she is prepared for the case to be indicted and head to Prince George’s County Circuit Court.
“The family is devastated and stunned by the allegations in this case but stands completely behind him,” Catherine Woolley, Kearney’s attorney, said in a statement. Kearney, she said, entered a not-guilty plea to all charges on Tuesday.
For Best’s family, the loss of their “deeply compassionate and caring” daughter, sister, aunt and friend has left them reeling.
“She was the light of our lives, and we will miss her dearly for the rest of our days,” her family said in a statement.
Ellen Opdyke, assistant chief of the Special Victims Unit at the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office, said at a news conference following Kearney’s bail review hearing that Kearney and Best were in an “on and off again relationship” and the two had gotten into an argument.
Kearney told police that he strangled her, and once realizing she was unconscious, he then struck her in the face to “bring her back,” according to Opdyke and the charging documents.
“But unfortunately, she had already passed away,” Opdyke said.
Kearney first fled to Virginia in Best’s car, according to the charging documents. He tried to report the crime there before being told he needed to contact Prince George’s County authorities, Opdyke said.
He then drove to the Clinton police station in Prince George’s County and confessed to strangling Best, whom he referred to as his girlfriend, according to the charging documents.
According to Best’s family, the two were not in a romantic relationship.
Police responded to the home in Accokeek at about 9:42 a.m. and found Best unresponsive in the basement, according to the charging documents. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to Kearney’s social media accounts, he worked as the head football coach at Spalding High School in Griffin, about 40 miles south of Atlanta. Woolley, on behalf of Kearney’s family, said in a statement he was involved in the community and organized his players off the field to volunteer and clean up at local schools. Griffin-Spalding County Schools did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
“Anyone who commits domestic violence here in Prince George’s County will be prosecuted and we will pursue the toughest sanctions against you because this cannot and will not be tolerated,” Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy said.
Tributes from friends and loved ones of Best have poured in on social media.
“Patrina was a fun-loving, warm-hearted person and made friends easily everywhere she went,” her family said in the statement. “The outpouring of love and support from her friends and colleagues is a testament to the amazing person she was.”
Best graduated from Georgia Southern University, where she received a scholarship to swim on the Georgia Southern Eagles swim team. Swimming was a passion she developed growing up near the beach in Barbados and Hawaii and strengthened in high school in Georgia, her family said in the statement.
She worked as an exercise physiologist before earning her nursing degree, and later specializing in operating room nursing, her family said. When the pandemic hit, she provided nursing care nationwide and “touched countless lives at every stop.” Her dog, a West Highland white terrier named Luke, always tagged alongside her.
Best was “a constant source of joy and laughter,” who was there to celebrate every birthday, holiday and special occasion, her family said. Her niece and nephew lovingly viewed her as “the greatest Tita in the entire world.”
“She was a wonderful person in every regard,” her family said.
Keith L. Alexander contributed to this report.
