40 year old, Tamla Horsford was found dead at a backyard party back in November of 2018. Horsford’s death was ruled an accident, but the story became the center of a viral social media controversy.
With recent reviews of unnecessary deaths among African Americans, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office officially requested that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation do so. Tamla Horsford was coincidentally the only black woman at the BBQ among 7 white women. The party was intended to be a football moms sleepover, but 3 men attended the party as well. The group of women gathered at the home of Jeanne in Cumming, Georgia, to celebrate her 45th birthday.
Sources were informed that during the party Tamla was very social, and enjoying time playing card games. According to partygoers, at some point Tamla Horsford went out on to Jeanne’s first-floor deck to smoke cigarettes and marijuana. Many of the women consumed quite a bit of alcohol that night, and Tamla was one of them.
Tamla Horsford had planned to stay overnight and sleep in Jeanne’s son’s room, but she was keen to hang out and socialize even more. Shortly before 2 AM, one of the party-goers, named Bridget, was picked up by her husband. Bridget told police that Tamla saw her off and was left eating a bowl of gumbo as the last one awake in the house.
The next morning an alarming call was made to police. Jeanne’s aunt Madeline, who also lived at the resident reported that she woke up the next morning at 8.45 AM and went to make coffee when she saw a disturbing sight from the basement window, as she told police: “I was just staring out the window and I saw those dalmatian pajamas … So I didn’t start the coffee. I got on my knees and said a prayer and then I ran upstairs.”
Madeline woke up Jeanne and Jose, who came outside and found Tamla lying face down in the back yard. At 8:59 AM, Jeanne called 911 and asked for an ambulance. Here’s an excerpt from a transcript of that call, which can be heard in full below:
Jeanne: We had people over last night, we were drinking, most of us went to bed, one of them stayed on the balcony. She was drinking. And we just went outside and she’s laying face down in the back yard. It looks like maybe — I’m guessing she fell off the balcony? But she’s stiff.
Dispatcher: “OK, is she breathing?”
Jeanne: “I don’t know but she’s face down …”
Jose: “She is not moving one bit, she is not breathing … She’s completely face down in the yard. She is stiff.”
During the investigation of Tamla’s death there were no reports of any altercations during the party. The discovery of Tamla’s injuries were similar to the effects of a fall from a balcony, as what was suspected when discovering the cause of Tamla’s death. However, there were inconsistencies with reports and connection conspiracies with Jeanne’s family.
For instance, the timing that Horsford’s body was discovered at 7:30 AM, but police were not called until 9 AM. However, that premise is incorrect, and Cpl. Sexton even made a point of emphasizing that in a 19 February memo, writing that “Detectives have confirmed that the initial 911 call for assistance [at 8:59 AM] was made within minutes of the initial discovery of the deceased.”
Until December 2018, Jeanne’s boyfriend Jose was a probation officer for Forsyth County, and he used his position to access confidential files relating to the investigation into Horsford’s death. This fact was cited by some of Horsford’s friends and family as suspicious or suggestive of a cover-up.
What is more inconsistent is that Tamla Horsford had seen Bridget leave with her husband, right before 2 a.m in which Jeanne’s alarm shows the front door opening at 1:47 a.m and closing at the same time, then the backdoor opening at 1:49 a.m and closing at 1:50 a.m but then opening back up at 1:57 a.m. If Tamla stepped out on the back porch and fell then who opened the back door at 1:57 a.m? Not to mention, Bridget stated Tamla seen her off to get in the car with her husband, which means it would have taken Bridget one minute to get in the car with her husband and say goodbye to Tamla as the front door opened and closed at 1:49 a.m.
The Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office said it spent 300 hours investigating the situation, including conducting more than 30 interviews with party guests and others connected to the event. However, there are still many unanswered questions.
In a letter to Tamala’s widower, attorney Ralph E. Fernandez said after an “exhaustive review” of records from the case by his team, they found that “a homicide is a strong possibility.” Though the GBI said it will open the investigation, they gave no timeline on when it will get underway in order to piece together Horsford’s final moments.
