Criminal Case Files

Tamla Horsford, a 40-year-old wife and mother of five, was found deceased in the backyard of a residence in Cumming, Georgia, on Sunday, November 4, 2018. Tamla spent the prior evening with 12 acquaintances at a sleepover party to celebrate the 45th birthday of Jeanne Meyers, the homeowner.

Tamla was the only Black woman at the party.

With Forsyth County having a long history of racism, many questions have surrounded the investigation, the individuals involved and the ultimate ruling of Tamla’s death as “accidental” despite evidence suggesting otherwise.

In this post, we’ll dive in to the death of Tamla Horsford, the surrounding suspicion, and the hazy timeline.

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The Sleepover

Tamla attends a sleepover party on Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018 at the residence of Jeanne Meyers at 4450 Woodland Court in Cummings, Georgia, 40 miles outside of Atlanta. She knows Jeanne and the other nine women in attendance through their sons’ youth football league. The women refer to themselves as “football moms.”

Tamla and Jeanne met recently in August 2018, and only spent time together on Saturdays during their sons’ games. Tamla went to Jeanne’s home for the first time a few weeks prior for a pumpkin-carving party with their children.

Stacey Smith was the party host and sent Evites through Facebook. The sleepover was intended to eliminate any risk of drinking and driving. Jeanne held the party at her house to celebrate her 45th birthday and the end of another successful kids’ football season, and also because she was a Louisiana State University (LSU) fan and there was an LSU-Alabama football game that night.

In the timeline, we will refer to the partygoers by their first names to reduce confusion, but all parties, with the exception of Tamla, will otherwise be referenced by their last names in the duration of this post.

8:30 pm, Saturday, November 3, 2018

The party starts at 7 pm, but Tamla arrives around 8:30 pm. Before heading over, she makes dinner for her family and prepares a breakfast casserole for them to have the following morning.

Tamla joins nine women and three men, though it was previously stated that men would not be in attendance. Rather, the party was initially held with a “no boys allowed” sort of theme. All the women are present when she arrives, with the exception of Paula Seals, who arrives later on.

The women at the party and their ages at the time of the case are as follows:

• Jeanne Meyers, 45, the homeowner; now Jeanne Gunter
• Nichole Lawson, 39
• Marcy Hardin, 33
• Bridget Fuller, 43
• Jennifer Morrell, 46
• Sarah Cockerham, 36
• Paula Seals, 46
• Stacey Smith, 40, the party host
• Madeline Lombardi, 63, Jeanne’s aunt, who also lives at the residence; now Madeline Verdi

The men at the party and their ages at the time of the case are as follows:

• Jose Barrera, 27, Jeanne’s boyfriend
• Michael Pallerino, husband of Jennifer Morrell, 55
• Thomas Smith, 41, husband of Stacey Smith

Jose is expected to leave the home but complains of stomach issues. He promises Jeanne he will stay in the basement and keep to himself.

At the last minute, Thomas “Tom” Smith, Stacey’s husband, joins Jose. Stacey’s sister, Jamie, hosted her gender reveal party at their home that evening, and prompting Tom to join Stacey at Jeanne’s party. While the men stay downstairs and watch the LSU-Alabama game, the women watch the same game upstairs and drink alcohol. (Michael Pallerino strictly drove his wife Jennifer Morrell to and from the party, but is mentioned in the police report, so he is identified here.)

Nichole Lawson and Sarah Cockerham are the only women who aren’t drinking because they plan to drive home. Tamla allegedly takes a shot of Fireball whiskey upon arrival, and then alternates between water or Mountain Dew mixed with tequila, which she brought. Everyone at the party is alleged to drink responsibly, including Tamla, with no mentions of outward intoxication aside from Jennifer Morrell.

Tamla brings a bottle of tequila to the party and a small overnight bag. Upon arrival, she changes into her pajamas: a white onesie with paw prints on it. She is alleged to arrive in a great mood and is both friendly and social.

The bottle of tequila, imported from Mexico, is brought as a gift for Jeanne. Jeanne expresses her disgust of tequila and her refusal to drink it. When Tamla goes outside for a cigarette, Jeanne says the smell of tequila causes her to “throw up in her mouth.” Because of Jeanne’s refusal, Tamla is the only person who drinks the tequila that night.

Tamla is allegedly the only cigarette smoker at the party and periodically smokes on the balcony, which faces the backyard. Tamla also smokes marijuana on the balcony with Madeline and Stacey, though Jeanne asks her to stop, stating that Jose, her boyfriend, was a probation officer. She jokes, calling Tamla “the female Bob Marley.”

At halftime, the men come upstairs to eat—Jeanne had cooked gumbo—and the group finishes the evening watching the game.

9:30 – 9:45 pm

Sometime between 9:30 and 9:45 pm, Paula Seals arrives at the party and the group has birthday cake.

Tamla FaceTimes her children twice—her husband and children around 10 pm and her stepdaughter around 12:30 am, when she happily shows off her pregnancy to the partygoers. After the football game ends, the group plays Cards Against Humanity, a card game typically associated with drinking, until after midnight.

11:30 pm

Nichole Lawson and Sarah Cockerham leave the party—allegedly due to childcare.

12:45 am, Sunday, November 4, 2018

Marcy Hardin puts an intoxicated Jennifer Morrell to bed upstairs. The friends reportedly watch Shrek and fall asleep shortly afterwards.

1:15 am

The remaining partygoers talk about going to bed and their sleeping arrangements. Tamla states she wants to go home. Jeanne, Stacey, and her husband Tom discourage Tamla from driving because she had been drinking. Tamla reluctantly agrees to spend the night, though she doesn’t feel ready for bed and asks other group members to stay up with her.

Tamla is allegedly upset that she doesn’t have a “sleeping buddy,” because everyone at the sleepover is sleeping in pairs. Stacey leaves her cell phone downstairs with Tamla so “their phones could have a sleepover.” Tamla is the only person who sleeps downstairs.

1:47 am

Bridget Fuller leaves the party. She is picked up by her husband, Gary Fuller. Bridget leaves because she has anxiety, stating that she feels she has to sleep with “one eye open” if she is at someone else’s house.

Bridget is allegedly the last person to see Tamla alive. Tamla eats gumbo downstairs and says she will have one more cigarette before bed.

1:49 am

The back door to the house opens.

1:50 am

The back door to the house closes.

1:57 am

The back door to the house opens—and never closes.

2 am

Tamla allegedly smokes a cigarette or attempts to do so on the back porch.

4:10 am

Marcy Hardin leaves the residence to get ready for work. She was starting a new job at a Coach retailer in an outlet mall. However, her shift didn’t start until 10 am.

7:30 am

Madeline, the homeowner’s aunt, wakes up with plans to make coffee. She lives on the first floor apartment of the home. When Madeline walks past a window, she sees Tamla lying face-down in the backyard. She kneels down, says a prayer, and then goes upstairs to Jeanne and Jose’s room.

Madeline knocks on their door and hears running water. Wondering if the couple is showering, she returns downstairs to look again at Tamla’s body. Then, she goes back upstairs and knocks on the door again, no longer hearing the running water. Madeline specifically asks to speak to Jose, but ultimately tells both Jeanne and Jose, “Your friend from the islands is dead.” She claims to have forgotten Tamla’s name because they only met recently.

7:45 am

Paula Seals leaves the residence.

8:30 am

Thomas and Stacey Smith leave the residence. Before she leaves, Stacey goes into the living room to grab her phone, and remembers seeing Tamla’s phone and being happy that she decided to stay the night.

8:59 am

Jose, the homeowner’s boyfriend, calls 9-1-1. During the call, Jose describes Tamla as lying face-down and not breathing, with a small cut on her wrist. He suggests the cut may be self-inflicted. A woman is overheard in the background suggesting Tamla may have been pushed off the balcony.

9:07 am

Police arrive on scene.

At some point after police arrive, Jennifer is woken by the commotion.

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Who Was Tamla Horsford?

Tamla “Tam” St. Jour was born on October 10, 1978 in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, an island in the Caribbean. In 1989, when Tamla was 11, her family moved to the Bronx, New York.

As an adult, Tamla moved to Florida, where she met her husband Leander “Lee” Horsford. Leander had one daughter from a prior marriage, who Tamla accepted as her own. Together, Tamla and Leander also had five sons, the youngest of whom was only 4 years old at the time of Tamla’s passing. The Horsford’s moved to Cumming, Georgia, around 2012 for Leander’s job.

In the fall of 2018, Tamla and Leander were looking forward to the birth of their first grandchild. Leander’s daughter was pregnant. Sadly, Tamla never had the chance to meet her precious grandchild.

Tamla is remembered for her warm soul and love for life. She enjoyed dancing, singing, going to the beach and cooking. She actively participated in her sons’ schooling and regularly attended their sporting events.

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The First Investigation

Tamla’s case was investigated by the Forsyth County Major Crimes Unit. Lieutenant Andy Kalin oversaw the case and Corporal Michael Christian was the lead investigator.

The partygoers who saw Tamla’s body described her as lying face-down with her arms by her side and her palms facing upwards. However, police discovered Tamla’s body with her left arm bent, as if she were waving.

When discovered, Tamla’s legs were straight with her feet pointed down. The tips of her feet were about 1 foot, 10 inches from the edge of the downstairs patio, and her head faced toward the back of the yard. She had abrasions on her shins, which were consistent with a metal landscape divider in the yard. Despite being directly face-down, Tamla suffered no injuries to her face. When police arrived, her body was stiff and rigor mortis had set in, suggesting that she was deceased for several hours.

Tamla’s body was taken in for an autopsy that day. The first autopsy revealed multiple blunt-force injuries, which police presumed resulted from a fall from the home’s 14-foot, 10-inch-high balcony.

Police break the news to Leander. When they arrive at the Horsford residence, they ask, “Is your name Lee?” He responds, “What does this pertain to?” Police repeat their question twice more, with increasing intensity, and then state, “It’s about your wife. She’s deceased.” The police refused to allow Leander to go to the scene. Police also stated that Tamla passed from falling off the balcony—despite there not yet being an investigation.

Tamla’s death was ruled accidental due to multiple blunt-force injuries caused by her falling off the balcony as a result of alcohol intoxication and/or suffering a “medical event.” No autopsy photos were taken and the crime scene was not secured. Jeanne had rechargeable cameras in her backyard, but none of them were functioning on the night of Tamla’s death.

Between Nov. 9, 2018 and Nov. 20, 2018, interviews were held, not at the police station, but at Jeanne’s house. The partygoers were not separated from each other, thus affording them time to possibly develop consistent storylines. Holiday music played in the background. Advocates for Tamla dub this group of partygoers the “Forsyth 12.”

Unsatisfied with the first autopsy, Tamla’s family requested a second autopsy to be performed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI). The second autopsy revealed that Tamla suffered severe injuries to her head, neck and torso—which included a broken neck, a compound fracture to her wrist and four types of hemorrhages in the skull and brain—as well as superficial cuts to her face, wrist, hand and lower legs, a laceration to the right ventricle of her heart—which caused internal bleeding into the sack surrounding the heart—and a fracture to her second cervical vertebrae. Despite being discovered face-down, Tamla’s face didn’t sustain the same level of injuries as her body. Also, although a bone was physically sticking out of Tamla’s wrist, very little blood was found at the scene, leading to speculation about the body being moved. Michael Christensen, the lead detective, stated that it appeared more like Tamla fell at ground level as opposed to off the balcony.

The toxicology report showed a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .238–three times the legal limit—trace amounts of THC, the psychoactive component in marijuana, and Alprazolam (Xanax), a medication prescribed to treat anxiety. Nonetheless, Tamla never appeared drunk or out of control. She was not known to take Xanax and was not prescribed it. Xanax wasn’t yet metabolized by her liver, which meant she took it shortly before her death. It must be noted that Bridget—who described herself in interviews as a “Mother Hen”—was prescribed Xanax for her anxiety, and even wore an apparatus that contained the medication around her neck.

Despite the results of the second autopsy and the suspicions surrounding Tamla’s death, Major Joe Perkins of the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office announced the case was closed on Feb. 20, 2019, and ruled it an accidental death. Of Tamla’s death, Major Joe Perkins said:

“It was a party. They were drinking. She was drinking. Most of the partygoers had gone to bed at that time, and she was on the deck alone.”

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Other Mitigating Circumstances

1. Improper Preparation of Tamla’s Body

When Leander went to see Tamla’s body at McDonald & Son Funeral Home in Cumming ahead of the viewing, he saw that his wife’s face was covered in dark makeup that resembled shoe polish. Tamla was light-skinned, but her makeup was that of someone with a much darker complexion. Leander equated her appearance to blackface; an observance that only adds to the potentially racially-fueled nature of her suspicious death.

2. Lead Detective Mike Christian is Fired

Corporal Michael “Mike” Christian, the lead detective on Tamla’s case, resigned from his position with the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office in October 2020 in the midst of an internal affairs investigation. He ultimately lost his certification to work as a police officer for violating his oath of office.

Two women came forward stating that Christian shared confidential information with them, including crime scene photos of Tamla’s case and others. He also spent hours on the phone with one of the women while he was on duty, engaged in inappropriate relations in his vehicle with one of the women while on duty, and sent both women confidential information via his work email address. He used SnapChat as a major point of communication, which he used to send photos and updates. He claimed to have sent photos and shared information to keep the women interested in him. He had been married 15 years at the time.

Throughout Tamla’s investigation, he referred to her as “porch lady” so much, that one of the women forgot Tamla’s name.

Christian resigned before the internal investigation was completed.

3. Jose Barrera Leaks Information

Michelle Graves, one of Tamla’s closest friends, was unsatisfied with the investigation. From the start, she created a total of 13 Facebook posts which detailed what happened to Tamla and listed the names of all involved. Her posts were viewed more than 100,000 times.

Shortly after making these Facebook posts, Graves filed a police report stating that she believed Jose Barrera, Meyers’s boyfriend, accessed her personal information through his job (as a probation officer), and shared it with the partygoers. The Forsyth Counry Sheriff’s Office placed Barrera on leave as they carried out an investigation. Jose was subsequently fired on Dec. 20, 2018, as it was found that he did, indeed, access Tamla’s incident report on Nov. 7 and again on Nov. 20, and shared the confidential information with five people.

In February 2019, Graves compiled a nine-page report about Barrera’s actions—after which the media picked up Tamla’s case. Barrera’s actions led to major suspicions concerning possible foul play and segued into the spread of hash tag #TamlaHorsford and #JusticeForTamlaHorsford across social media. Despite being fired, no legal action was taken against Barrera.

4. Further Retaliation Against Michelle Graves

Jeanne Meyers and other partygoers—Nichole Lawson, Stacey Smith, Thomas Smith, Bridget Fuller, Marcy Hardin, and Jose Barrera—filed a lawsuit, Meyers et al. v. Graves—sued Graves for causing “irreparable damage” to their reputations as a result of the statements she shared on social media. The partygoers claimed to have received death threats. Meyers filed her own temporary order of protection against Graves on November 20, the month after Tamla’s body was found. Graves also allegedly received a cease and desist letter on Dec. 15, 2018, which she interpreted as an intimidation tactic and effort to silence Graves.

In 2023, Graves published a 264-page book about Tamla’s death and investigation, Search for the Truth: Black Woman Failed by the State of Georgia.

5. Persisting Racism

Coroner Chris Shelton performed the autopsy. He was also fired in from a previous job as a police lieutenant with the Brookhaven Police Department in 2014 for taking a photograph of himself and a subordinate holding racist Mammy dolls—dolls meant to depict Black Americans as servants for white families—and sharing the photos with fellow officers via text.

Chris Shelton was allegedly told by Chief Coroner Lauren W. McDonald, his superior, to either not photograph or take limited photographs of Tamla’s autopsy. Coincidentally, Lauren McDonald also owns McDonald & Son Funeral Home, the only family-owned funeral home in Cumming, which ill-prepared Tamla’s body and held her funeral services.

Chris Shelton has direct ties to Sheriff Ron Freeman of Forsyth County. Freeman began his employment with the sheriff’s department in 1987; the same year Forsyth County had a civil rights protest to advocate for fair treatment and fair housing for Blacks, which drew some 20,000 participants.

In 2016, Freeman became the Sheriff of Forsyth County, but two years earlier, in 2014, he was hired by the city of Brookhaven. Freeman was soon forced to resign due to his involvement in the attempted cover-up of a colleague’s racial actions. Specifically, Freeman was caught trying to alter a file for a colleague who shared racial photos—and that colleague? Chris Shelton. Freeman then appointed Shelton as the deputy coroner in Forsyth County.

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The Second Investigation

Tamla’s case received renewed attention after an onslaught of racially fueled tragedies, such as the 2020 murder of George Floyd and subsequent anti-police brutality protests, and the Black Lives Matter movement.

On June 5, 2020, Ralph E. Fernandez, the Horsford family attorney, wrote a letter to Tamla’s husband, Leander, stating that his team’s investigation of the case strongly suggested homicide. He explained that Tamla’s body showed signs of a struggle but the absence of initial autopsy photos prevented a definite conclusion. In the letter, the attorney also stated:

“Witness statements are in conflict. A potential subject handled the body as well as the evidence prior to law enforcement arriving. Evidence was disposed of and no inquiry followed. The scene was not preserved.”

A few days later, an Atlanta journalist published the letter, which brought renewed attention to Tamla’s case. Protestors gathered in Cumming with signs that read Tamla’s name, along with the names of other Black individuals who faced maltreatment and/or were killed by police in recent years. A Change.org petition was started, which called for the case to be reopened. The petition received more than 709,000 signatures. The case was also shared by celebrities, including celebrities 50 Cent, T.I., Kim Kardashian and Gabrielle Union, who asked for the case to be reopened.

In response to pushback from the media and public, Forsyth County Sheriff Ron Freeman sent a letter to the GBI on June 12, 2020, asking for Tamla’s case to be reopened. The GBI agreed to reopen the case on June 18, 2020, but did not specify when the investigation would begin.

A year later, on July 28, 2021, the GBI closed the second investigation, reiterating the first ruling of Tamla’s death as accidental.

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Worthy of Mention

Jeanne Meyers

When investigators interviewed Madeline Lombardi, Meyers’s aunt, Meyers interrupted the interview to offer investigators Dunkin’ Donut gift cards. The detectives declined. Nearly two years later, in December of 2020, Meyers updated her Facebook profile picture to one of her, Stacey Smith and Nichole Lawson, wearing Dunkin’ Donut masks, with the caption, “The best masks! EVER! #iykyk”

The day after the sleepover, Meyers posted a Facebook status that read, “There was no fall from my deck,” which she subsequently deleted.

When Meyers was asked if Tamla ever made it to bed, she immediately responded “no”—despite Meyers having allegedly gone to bed at 1:30 am. She then followed up with an explanation about how the bed was still made, which is what “she meant.”

Meyers sold her home in June 2019 for $389,000 to a Forsyth County police officer.

Bridget Fuller

Bridget Fuller was the only known partygoer who was prescribed and regularly known to take Xanax, which was found in Tamla’s system. Fuller told officers that she was so dependent on the medication to function that she wore it in a necklace. She also claimed the medication made it “impossible for her to lie.”

Despite such a statement, evidence was found in some of the partygoers’ cell phone records that Fuller shared her medication with friends at least twice prior to Tamla’s death and once on the day of Tamla’s death. When questioned, the women admitted this was true, but stated it was only because Fuller knew them well, and that she did not know Tamla well.

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Racial History of Forsyth County

Tamla’s death occurred in Forsyth County, Georgia, which is notorious for its racist past.

Perhaps the most concerning of many troubling details is the county being known for having one of “the most successful examples of racial cleansing” in U.S. history.

In 1912, white mobs forced out the population of 1,098 Black Americans due to a case that wasn’t proven. Mae Crow, 18, was beaten and left unconscious in a wooded area, where she succumbed to her injuries. The only three Black men who lived in the area where Mae’s body was found, were blamed for her death. There was no evidence linking them to the crime, aside from a forced confession from one of the men.

To say the public response was outrageous and tragic is an understatement. One of the accused, Rob Edwards, 24, was arrested. The next day, he was dragged from his cell by a lynch mob. The mob tied a noose around his neck, attached him to the back of a wagon, and drove him to the downtown square in Cumming, where he was hung from a telephone pole. Members of the lynch mob then took turns shooting his lifeless body. The other two suspects, who were only teenagers—Ernest Knox, 16, and Oscar Daniel, 18–were publically hanged after one-day trials with all-white jurys.

From then on, every Black person in Forsyth County faced death threats if they didn’t leave immediately. Forsyth County became known as a sundown town, which meant that Black people were forced out of the area by sundown through intimidation and violent tactics. In just three weeks, nearly all of Black population left, and it largely remained that way until the 1990s.

Racial events continued to take place in Forsyth County for years afterwards.

• 1968: a group of 10 Black children and their counselors went camping at Lake Lanier, only to be forced out by a group of white men, who harassed them until they left.
• 1980: Miguel Marcelli, a Black firefighter, was fatally shot by two white men after attending a company picnic.
• 1987: two civil rights march, known as the Brotherhood March, attracted some 20,000 participants and became one of the largest civil rights demonstrations in U.S. history. The march also included more than 3,000 police officers and 1,000 members of the National Guard. It was met by counter efforts from white supremacist groups, like the Ku Klux Klan, and other individuals who wanted to keep Forsyth County “racially pure.” The march was mostly peaceful and ignited changes regarding fairness, fair housing and overall equality.

In 1990, the U.S. Census reported that of the 44,083 people who lived in Forsyth County, 43,573 were white and only 14 were Black.

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Details of Note

In discussing Tamla’s case, there are several facts worthy of reiteration:

• Tamla was the only Black person at the sleepover
• Tamla was the only person set up to sleep downstairs and without a sleeping buddy
• Tamla expressed wanting to go home but was discouraged from doing so. It was 2018. Why wasn’t she suggested to call an Uber or her husband to pick her up?
• Tamla’s injuries were inconsistent with a fall from a balcony. There are suspicions she was killed and later placed in the backyard.
• Despite Tamla being found in the backyard, no one at the party heard signs of a struggle—and neither did neighbors?
• Tamla had of Xanax in her system that was not yet processed by her liver. Where did the Xanax come from? No one ever admitted to providing Tamla with the Xanax, despite several of the women stating they received Xanax or Klonopin, another anti-anxiety medication, from Bridget Fuller in the past.
• The positioning of Tamla’s body was described differently by the partygoers versus police. Why is there a discrepancy?
• The former lead investigator, Michael Christensen, lost his job for sharing confidential information about crime scenes for his own personal gain: attention from women. If the lead investigator couldn’t be trusted with respecting the case and others, and was found to make racial slurs about Tamla, why should anyone trust that he handled ANY of the case appropriately?
• Forsyth County is a historically racist area.

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My 2 Cents

I’ve been pouring over research on this case to gain as thorough of an understanding as possible. But still, I can’t come to any conclusions about what I suspect happened.

I can say, however, that I don’t believe Tamla fell off the balcony and died. It simply doesn’t make sense considering the condition of her body. I don’t know what any of the partygoers would have to gain by Tamla’s death, or why they may or may not have been involved, but I believe someone knows something.

Law enforcement appears to have mishandled this case from the start. As it happens sometimes, and most unfortunately so, it seems the officers determined what happened to Tamla without an investigation, and ran with that idea. I can only assume the racial past of Forsyth County left them less than inclined to dedicate themselves to Tamla’s case, but that is merely speculation. Also, it’s clear the lead detective was distracted throughout and did not handle Tamla’s case with respect for the deceased.

I hope that this case can be solved one day, and that Tamla’s loved ones can find peace.

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Sources

• Wikipedia — Death of Tamla Horsford
• 11 Alive — #TamlaHorsford: Timeline of a mother’s death
• NBC News — A Georgia county that once expelled all Black residents now wants to be a model of love
• Forsyth County Police Department — Tampa Horsford investigation
• Kendall Rae – What Really Happened to Tampa Horsford?
• Killer Queens — The Death of Tamla Horsford
• 11 Alive — ‘This case is just beginning’ | Tamla Horsford’s family releases full independent autopsy report
• 11 Alive – Ex-Forsyth deputy was ‘negligent of duty’ when he had inappropriate relations while on the job: Internal investigation
• Forsyth County News — Group accused online of murdering Tamla Horsford sues Forsyth County woman
• Justice for Tayla Horsford // Forsyth Exposed – Tamla Horsford Death investigation — Paula Seals Forsyth County Sheriff interview
• Justice for Tayla Horsford // Forsyth Exposed – Tamla Horsford Death investigation — Michael Pallerino interview – Tamla Horsford
• WSB-TV 2 — Officer resigns after racially insensitive photos surface