An attorney for the family of Tamla Horsford says his own review of her case leads him to believe “homicide is a strong possibility.” Tamla, a married mother of five from Forsyth County, Georgia, was found dead in a backyard in November 2018 after attending an adult sleepover at a home.
Attorney Ralph Fernandez laid out his concerns in a letter that WSB-TV Atlanta obtained and reported on June 8, 2020. He wrote that witness statements conflict, that someone who may be a subject in the case handled the body and evidence before law enforcement arrived, and that evidence was discarded and the scene was not preserved.
Fernandez also said no photographs were taken during the autopsy, which he called highly unusual. He argued that her injuries are consistent with a struggle, pointing to abrasions that he believes show recent defensive force. He added that only one X-ray exists and that the injury listed as her cause of death does not appear in it.
The medical examiner’s report listed her cause of death as blunt force trauma consistent with a fall from the back deck of the home, with injuries to her head, neck and torso. The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office closed the case in February 2019, saying it found no evidence of foul play.
Fernandez said the case also points to a wider gap in how investigations into the deaths of Black Americans are handled, and cited Ahmaud Arbery’s case as an example of how public attention can drive action.
WSB-TV reports that the sheriff’s office defended its work as thorough, said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation reviewed its findings at the family’s request, and said it would ask the GBI to reopen the case if the attorney provides new information. The GBI told the station that autopsy and scene photographs were taken and that it stands by its original findings.
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