Tamla Horsford – Accident or Murder?

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Tamla Horsford - Accident or Murder?

Was it an unfortunate accident or did a murder leave a family without their loving and vivacious mother? Listen to the story of the mysterious death of Tamla Horsford. How could a fun evening celebrating a friend’s birthday end so tragically?  

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Lillian B. made the case suggestion for this episode. She felt it would lead to some good discourse on the mysterious death of Tamla Horsford. Was her death a tragic accident or was it caused by some other nefarious means?  Listen and decide for yourself.  

Location

Cumming, Georgia is considered a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area and is the county seat of Forsyth County.  Native American Indians first inhabited this area, but they were pushed out beginning in 1828 by settlers mining for gold. Famous citizens of Cumming include Zac Brown from the Zac Brown Band and Skyler Day. Day is an actress from the series Parenthood and The Resident.

Sleepover

Tamla Horsford was a 40-year-old mother of five sons and an adult daughter. On November 3, 2018, she arrived around 8:30 pm at her friend, Jeanne Meyers’s home to help celebrate Jeanne’s 45th birthday. Tamla had been one of the last guests to arrive at the party. She had stayed home to prepare a breakfast casserole for her family for the next morning. The last female guest arrived around 10:00 pm. Jeanne’s friend Stacy, had invited a group of her friends over for a girls-only pajama party sleepover.

The group of moms had all met through their children’s youth football league. Tamla was the only black guest invited among the other women. Although she may not have known all the women at the party she was known to make friends easily and be the “life of the party.”  Tamla arrived at the party with just a small overnight bag and a bottle of tequila that she had gotten from Mexico as a gift for Jeanne. Jeanne declined saying that she didn’t drink tequila. Like the other guests, Tamla changed into her pajamas which were a white onesie with paw prints. The group settled in for a night of drinking, playing board games, and watching football; LSU vs. Alabama. Jeanne was an LSU fan but they lost that night.

This evening was to be a lady’s night but Jeanne’s boyfriend, Jose Barrera, and the husband of another attendee, Tom Smith, were also present. Jose was not supposed to have been at the girl’s night party but stayed home claiming he did not feel well. In all, twelve individuals were present that night; eight women (including Tamla), two men, one live-in aunt, and one husband who only dropped off and picked up his wife later on.

A Night of Football

Barrera and Smith were downstairs in the finished basement as Tamla and the other ladies drank, socialized, and watched the game in the living room. Throughout the night Tamla reached out to her husband and older daughter. She told the party-goers how excited she was about her new grandbaby. Tamala was enjoying herself. Tamla was an avid smoker and frequently stepped out onto the deck off of the living room to smoke. As the evening went on she smoked both cigarettes and some marijuana.

At one point, Jeanne asked Tamla to stop smoking marijuana. According to an article in Rolling Stone magazine, Jeanne even joked about that conversation calling Tamla a “female Bob Marley.” One of Jeanne’s concerns was that her boyfriend worked as a Pretrial Release Service Officer. His job entailed reporting on bond violations, administering drug and alcohol tests, and identifying court defendants who would qualify for pretrial services.

As the night continued the men eventually joined the ladies in the main living room and the group started to play Cards Against Humanity.  Photos and videos up to that point showed Tamla smiling and looking like she was having a good time.  Although Tamla was drinking tequila throughout the evening she did not appear to be drunk. This was also confirmed by several guests. By 11:30 pm most of the guests not spending the night had been picked up. The ones left started to trickle off to bed over the next couple of hours. The home security system logged the front door opening and closing several times around this time.

One Last Cigarette

Around 1:30 am Jeanne and her boyfriend headed off to bed.  Tamla was still awake and would last be seen by Bridget Fuller who’s husband picked her up at 1:47 am. According to a later statement made by Bridget, she stated that when she left Tamla was eating a bowl of gumbo and planned on smoking one last cigarette before going to bed.  Tamla was to sleep upstairs in one of Jeanne’s boy’s rooms.

The home security system showed that the back door opened at 1:49 am then closed at 1:50 am. Then opened again at 1:57 am where it remained open.  The system would also log a door opening at 4:10 am, 7:45 am and 8:30 am when other guests left during the morning hours.

Morning Surprise

Around 8:45 am Madeline Lombardi, Jeanne’s aunt who lived and slept on the home’s basement level saw something out of the window that she could never unsee. In the backyard was Tamla in her paw print white onesie pajamas face down in the grass.

She was not moving.  Lombardi went to get her niece to tell her that something was wrong with her friend from the islands. Tamla was originally from the Caribbean and had moved to the U.S. when she was 11-years-old.

At the Forsyth County 911 Call Center a call came in at 8:59 am with both Jeanne and her boyfriend, Berrara telling the 911 operator:

  • “She’s lying in the yard basically on the patio downstairs”
  • “She’s not moving one bit”
  • “She’s stiff”
  • “She’s not breathing”
  • “I don’t know if it’s self-inflicted” (about a cut on her right wrist)
  • “She was drinking” 
  • “I’m guessing she must have fallen from the balcony”

Berrera also told the 911 operator that his girlfriend has a security camera on the back deck and should show how Tamla fell.  He told the operator that four party-goers were not present in the home at that time. Police arrived on the scene at 9:07 am.  Tamla was declared dead at the scene at 10:47 am. Her body was transported by the coroner’s office to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) medical examiner’s office for an autopsy.

Rush to Judgement?

Even before Tamla’s autopsy was complete the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office started to work on the theory that her death was an accident caused by her falling from the deck. Tamla’s husband, Leander (who goes by Lee according to some news reports), was notified by authorities that it was suspected at that time that she might have tripped over some garden edging and had suffered a fatal injury.  This is what starts the confusion of what exactly happened to Tamla.  

Jeanne Meyers was interviewed on November 9, 2018, by Detective Mike Christian and Corporal Tyler Sexton of the Criminal Investigation Division with the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office.  During that interview, she told the investigators that Tamla (or Tam as she is referred to during the interview) never looked to have made it upstairs to her son’s room as nothing had been disturbed). Meyers also stated that Tamla didn’t appear to be heavily intoxicated, maybe buzzed at the most. She wasn’t stumbling or anything. Meyers shared with investigators the door notifications.  She also claimed that when she first saw Tamla that both of her arms were down by her sides.  She was adamant that it was both her arms.

Tamla’s Death is Ruled an Accident

On February 20, 2019, an official determination was made by the sheriff’s office. Two weeks before this determination the State of Georgia Medical Examinations Office issued their final report. Tamla’s toxicology report would show that she had marijuana and Xanax in her system. Her blood alcohol content was 0.238%.  The federal legal limit is 0.08%.  Tamla was almost three times the legal limit. Keep in mind that 0.250% to 0.399% is an alcohol poisoning level that can cause a loss of consciousness. The body can start shutting down some of its organs to keep the other organs functioning. By 0.40% you can experience respiratory arrest and slip into a coma.

The examiner’s office ruled Tamla’s death as accidental due to multiple blunt force injuries. Acute ethanol intoxication played a significant factor in her death. The examiner’s office felt that Tamla’s injuries were consistent with injuries one would receive in a fall. They noted that there was no evidence of any type of assault or foul play based upon the injury patterns.  

The sheriff’s office determined that the combination of drugs and alcohol in Tamla’s system was what caused her to fall off the deck over the railing.  The other evidence used to back this theory was the door alarm log and an unlit cigarette and lighter that were found on the deck. The lighter and cigarette were found by Barrera. Her death was ruled accidental by the sheriff’s office closing the case on February 20, 2019, stating that “it was a party”, “they were drinking.”  Tamla’s husband and father were notified only an hour before the news conference about her case being ruled accidental and subsequently closed.

Looking for Answers

After the investigation closed the sheriff’s office released the incident report to the public. Unfortunately, there were still questions that Tamla’s family felt were not answered. One, how did someone with that high of a BAC look to be in control of her facilities by party guests and then fall over a railing? Also, how did the guests that were inside not hear Tamla’s fall right outside of their windows?

Then there was the fall itself which was from a little under 18 feet. Could that height cause her death? Would it specifically have caused a dislocated wrist, a broken neck, and lacerations to her heart muscle?

Then the investigation itself.  Why wasn’t the scene preserved?  Why were guests not immediately interviewed? How could the door be left open after it was opened at 1:57 am with no alarm going off or notifications to the homeowners of a door being left open? Tamla’s family felt that the investigation into her death was treated differently. She was the only person of color at the party and they didn’t think a thorough investigation was done.

Island Girl

Tamla was born in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 1978.  St. Vincent is the main Caribbean Island nation made up of a bunch of smaller islands south of St. Lucia. Tamla’s family moved to Bronx, New York in 1989.  Tamla met her husband, Leander, in Florida and they went on to marry and have the first of five sons.

The couple moved to Georgia in 2012 due to Leander’s work. Tamla is described as being the life of the party. She was warm and loved to dance and laugh. Anyone who knew Tamla would tell you that you couldn’t help but like her. At the time of Tamla’s death, her youngest son was only four years old.

Questions

A closer look at Tamla’s autopsy showed a couple of disturbing facts that didn’t seem to be caused by a fall from the height of the deck. Tamla had blunt force trauma to the head, neck, torso, and extremities.  There were abrasions on her face and hemorrhages in her brain with a dislocated right wrist and cuts on her arms and legs.

She also suffered a broken neck and a laceration to the right ventricle of her heart and a fractured second vertebra in her back.

Tamla had been found lying face down and not to one side or the other. She had no broken facial bones. Her legs were extended behind her with her feet pointing to the right with her right arm by her side and her left arm extended and bent at the elbow. This contradicts Jeanne’s statement that both arms were down at her sides when she first saw her.  Were the injuries to her hands and arms defensive wounds? Would she have landed like she did if she fell from a balcony or was pushed?

One of the original investigators initially felt that due to Tamla’s position that she may have fallen over some landscaping edging on the ground. This would explain the scrapes on her shins. In a later interview, the officer admitted that he shouldn’t have told Tamla’s father his theory until it was fully investigated. The associate medical examiner did not feel a ground-level fall would cause the injuries that Tamla had suffered from. That was the reason investigators felt she had fallen from the deck.  

Missing Evidence

Tamla’s family and friends also felt that evidence may have been missed due to the unsecured scene. Berrera told investigators that he had touched Tamla’s body before they arrived and had moved her legs to check to see if she was alive. He also told investigators that before they arrived he had removed an unlit cigarette and lighter that was on the deck. He claims that this was before seeing Tamla’s body. This surprised me as he was awoken by his girlfriend’s aunt who told them about the body in the backyard.

Investigators failed to collect any fingerprints from the scene. The cameras on the deck that pointed to the back of the home did not work as the batteries were dead and had not been recording. Another issue was that no fingernail clippings were taken nor was a sexual assault kit completed during Tamla’s autopsy. This was due to the death not showing foul play so it was not procedure. According to the GBI Division of Forensic Science, the bottle of tequila was not tested for illicit substances as it is their policy not to do so when the “suspect” is deceased and cannot be held accountable if drugs were to be found? This was reported by Nelly Miles, Public Affairs Director for the GBI in a Rolling Stone article on the case.

Distrust

Tamla’s family was distrustful of the police mostly due to the mixed messages that were being shared with them. One of the party attendees that night spoke to the police two weeks later and she also expressed disbelief as to how Tamla fell from the deck. She told investigators that she had been on the deck and had even tested the theory that Tamla was leaning over the side to vomit and fell to her death and she didn’t feel that could happen. I did not read anything that pointed to Tamla having vomited that night. Even then the investigators were still holding onto the accidental death theory saying that maybe she could have been sitting on the railing smoking when she fell. Another guest also had her doubts about the accident theory given that Tamla wasn’t showing signs of being heavily intoxicated.

Don’t Touch That

Three months later on February 19, 2019, more suspicion was raised when news broke that Jose Barrera was fired from his job as an officer with Pretrial Services on December 17, 2018. This firing was due to Barrera illegally accessing Tamla’s incident report and looking up his girlfriend’s name in the Records Management System database. His attorney claimed that “curiosity just got the better of him.”

Barrera’s firing occurred around the time when one of Tamla’s friends had created a Facebook post accusing some of the party-goers, known as the Forsyth 12, of having a hand in her death. Seven of the Forsyth 12 attempted to sue Tamla’s friend for defamation over the Facebook posts that were made alleging their involvement in Tamla’s death, but the suit was later dismissed.

Another friend of Tamla’s started a petition on change.org claiming that she has been harassed by the Forsyth Sheriff’s Office since doing so. She claimed that she was stopped by a deputy looking for three men who had been involved in a car accident. She also claimed that the sheriff’s office showed up at her home with warrants to collect all of her electronic devices. They were looking for evidence that she had sent threatening emails to some of the individuals that were present the night of Tamla’s death. Still, with the lingering questions, neither the sheriff’s office nor the GBI wanted to re-examine Tamla’s case until…..

Black Lives Matter

The change.org petition gained the attention of celebrities that shared it on their social media platforms. Celebrities such as Gabrielle Union, Kim Kardashian, T.I. and 50 Cent. To date, Tamla’s petition has garnered over 700,000 signatures.

It also gained support from the Black Lives Movement especially after George Floyd’s death in May 2020. #JusticeForTamla was picked up by the movement.

The murder of George Floyd by a police office catapulted the Black Lives Matter movement into the national consciousness

In addition, Ralph Fernandez, a lawyer hired by the Horsford family released a summary of results from his investigation felt “homicide was a strong possibility.”  He referenced the bruises on Tamla’s arms and hands. Could these be defensive wounds?  Fernandez noted that Tamla looked to have been involved in a struggle as the abrasions she had seemed to support that theory of thought.

The lack of autopsy photos Fernandez felt was unheard of. The sheriff’s office would give an interview to a local news station stating that there were autopsy photos taken. In June, Fernandez released his multiple requests for Tamla’s autopsy photos. The GBI claims that they cannot release the photos until they have a signed release from Tamla’s next of kin. Fernandez called bs in that the need for the release was only brought up when he released his multiple requests for the autopsy photos to the public. The GBI says they will release the photos once they receive the release.

Fernandez also brought up the question as to why the crime scene wasn’t preserved. Especially where Tamla was found lying on the ground.

I Fought The Law

If you go to the change.org petition (link in the resource section) it outlines the problems that Tamla’s family and friends feel lead to her death being ruled an accident.

One of the main ones is with the lead detective with the sheriff’s office, Andy Kalin. Kalin was friends with Jose Barrera and the sheriff that hired him, Ronnie Freeman.

According to the petition, Kalin did not have any prior police experience before his personal friend hired him.  Freeman’s campaign manager was also close friends with some of the party-goers and Barrera worked closely with the sheriff’s office in his position with pretrial services. The petition states that Ronnie Freeman needs to be removed from his position claiming he is “corrupt and unethical” with a history of “protecting his own.”  It also states that Freeman was let go from his previous job due to being caught trying to alter the personnel file of an officer who was terminated after posting racially insensitive photos online. That officer the petition claims had worked on Freeman’s campaign for sheriff and now has a job with the coroner’s office.

Taking Over

In June 2020, after Fernandez released his statement the sheriff’s office formally asked the GBI to take over and open an independent investigation. Fernandez would like to see the FBI take over the investigation. The GBI did announce that they would be relaunching an investigation

In January 2021, an Atlanta tv station reported that one of the deputies called to the scene that night had taken pictures of Tamla’s body and sent them to two women he was interested in. Corporal Mike Christian also sent them pictures of toxicology reports and other evidence. Christian was investigated by the Internal Affairs division and no longer is employed with the sheriff’s office. To Fernandez, this is evidence of how shoddy the investigation into Talma’s death was.  

What do you think? Did Tamla perhaps slip or stubble over furniture that was on the deck and fall over the railing? Was it like the investigator theorized that she may have been sitting on the railing when she lost her balance and fell over? Or do you think someone had a hand in her death? Did Tamla get into an argument with a person in the house that night and in trying to get away fell over the railing? Or do you think someone pushed her over? 

We would love to know what you think about this case.

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