Terica Taneisha Ellis, Aiding Murder-for-Hire, Missouri 2024

A shocking revelation has come to light in the case of Andre Montgomery Jr., a 21-year-old man who was brutally murdered in St. Louis on March 14, 2016. According to authorities, Terica Taneisha Ellis, a 39-year-old exotic dancer from Memphis, Tennessee, was paid $10,000 to locate Montgomery and lure him outside before the shooting.

Ellis, who pleaded guilty in July to a charge of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, helped James Timothy Norman, a reality show star who appeared on the TV show 'Welcome to Sweetie Pie's', locate his nephew. Norman then passed Montgomery's location to another man, who fatally shot him at 3964 Natural Bridge Avenue in St. Louis.

Norman, 43, was convicted by a jury in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in September of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 2 and is facing a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

Norman took out a life insurance policy worth $450,000 on Montgomery, then arranged for Montgomery's murder, according to testimony and evidence at his trial. The shooter, Travell Anthony Hill, 31, was sentenced in October to 32 years in prison. Hill pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and one count of murder-for-hire and testified at Norman's trial.

Waiel Rebhi 'Wally' Yaghnam, Norman's former insurance agent, was sentenced in November to three years in prison on one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Yaghnam, 44, admitted conspiring with Norman to fraudulently obtain a life insurance policy on Montgomery and then helping Norman file a claim after Montgomery's murder.

Before announcing the sentence Tuesday, Judge Ross said that without what he called 'an incredible effort' by investigators, 'This could easily have been just another unsolved killing.' He also recognized Ellis' testimony against Norman at trial and said Norman would likely have succeeded in having Montgomery killed, whether Ellis helped or not.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmo/pr/woman-sentenced-3-years-prison-aiding-st-louis-reality-show-stars-murder-plot