Background: A section of the 5800 block of Jardin Place in Memphis, Tenn. (Google Maps). Inset: Rontavious Dillard (Shelby County Sheriff's Office).
A man in Tennessee is accused of killing his girlfriend during a game to determine who could raise their gun the fastest before hiding the weapons and lying about what happened.
Rontavious Dillard, 23, faces charges including second-degree murder, tampering with or fabricating evidence, possessing a firearm during a dangerous felony, and two counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a handgun, per Shelby County court records reviewed by Law&Crime.
The victim was identified by regional CBS affiliate WREG as Nyla Howell.
On Sunday at about 8 p.m., the Memphis Police Department was contacted about a shooting at a home on the 5800 block of Jardin Place. Dillard had reportedly called 911 and said his girlfriend had been shot.
Responding officers entered the home and found Howell suffering from a gunshot wound. Authorities brought her to a nearby hospital in critical condition, and she was pronounced dead.
Dillard was detained.
After investigators obtained a search warrant, they noted that there were blood smears from the first floor of the home all the way to the second-floor walk-in attic. They said they found a black gun with a shaved-off serial number in between the backyard fence and another gun — a mini Draco — hidden in a box of furnace filters in the attic, per Memphis NBC affiliate WMC.
Police wanted Dillard's story of what happened, but he apparently kept changing it.
At first, the defendant allegedly said he heard a noise come from another room and walked in to find Howell shot. Then, he changed his story to say his girlfriend was playing with a handgun when it accidentally went off as he tried to take it from her, according to police.
Finally, Dillard reportedly said Howell challenged him to see "who could 'up' a gun the fastest." Howell apparently picked up one gun while he picked up the Draco, which fired.
The defendant is being held in the Shelby County Jail without bond. He was due in court on Tuesday.
Comments