top of page

Littleton man arrested four days after allegedly murdering mother of his child, shooting her mother

April 22, 2022


U.S. Marshals on Friday arrested a man accused of shooting and killing the mother of his child in Halifax County.

It took authorities four days to locate 22-year-old Jamazia Tillery after the murder of Montasia Arrington. They found him in Raleigh after tracking a series of tips.


Just two weeks before Arrington was shot and killed and her mother injured, Tillery was charged with stabbing her, but he was released on bond. The Littleton chief of police told Wral News they also found a weapon believed to be the one Tillery used to fatally shoot the mother of his child.


Police say Tillery shot and killed Arrington and wounded her mother on Tuesday morning. "[Her mother] got shot trying to save Montasia. She pushed Montasia out of the way and told her to run," said Brenda Royster, Arrington's grandmother. She says Arrington was a kind and loving young woman. Family members say Tillery had a history of making threats.


"A few weeks ago he came visiting the baby. He attacked [Arrington] with a knife. He cut her leg and her hand," Royster said.


Tillery was arrested after that attack and charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, as well as assault on a female. On April, Arrington asked a court to keep Tillery in jail.


"She was scared of him. She was scared of him and she didn’t want him to get out on bond," Royster said. "She didn’t want him to have no bond – because she feared for her life with him."

Court records appear to show Tillery was initially taken in with no bond, but it was modified: Judge W. Turner Stephenson gave Tillery a bond of $40,000 on the condition that he stayed away from Arrington and didn’t carry a gun.


Tillery bonded out the next day. Two weeks later, he allegedly shot and killed Arrington.

Tags:

Comments

Archived Posts

Search By Tags

Follow Us

  • Instagram
  • Facebook Basic Square
  • Twitter Basic Square

Restoring Hope To Justice-Involved Women

Women offenders have special needs that often are not addressed during incarceration. As a result, transitioning from incarceration can be challenging and even impossible for many.

 

In 2021, there were roughly 228 women who returned to the Triangle area from state prison and in 2022, that number increased slightly to 232 (NC DPS - Office of Research & Planning, 2023). Also in 2022, there were more than 800 women serving their sentences on community probation throughout the Triangle area. Of both parolees and probationers, more than 80% were mothers of minor children and had the primary responsibility for their care prior to and following incarceration. Ex-incarcerated women are more likely than their male peers to experience higher levels of poverty, homelessness and abuse following a jail or prison term--making the post-prison transition much more difficult.

​

Research suggests that focusing on the differences between female and male conduits to criminality as well as applying gender-specific interventions, results in more positive outcomes. In the end, the application of specialized practices in criminal justice reform equals greater success for women ex-offenders when attempting to re-establish new pathways to society. It is also proven that the implementation of community-based, gender-responsive practices contributes to lower rates of female recidivism which in turn benefits justice-involved women, their families, the community and society as a whole.

bottom of page