Terica Ellis in a booking photo from a previous arrest in Shelby County, Tennessee. (Shelby County Sheriff's Office photo)
Linda Tatum, of St. Louis, left, picks up some to-go food from Sweetie Pies' owner Robbie Montgomery, center, and Montgomery's son James Timothy "Tim" Norman, right, at Sweetie Pies location on Manchester Road in St. Louis on Tuesday, April 19, 2011. James Timothy Norman was arrested and accused of facilitating a murder-for-hire plot against his nephew in an attempt to collect the nephew's life insurance money. It was announced in April of 2011 that Sweetie Pie's, in St. Louis, will be the subject of a new series on OWN, Oprah Winfrey Network. (David Carson, dcarson@post-dispatch.com)
From left, Charles "Lil' Charles" Crenchaw, Jazzmin, James Timothy Norman, Janea Wallick and Robbie "Miss Robbie" Montgomery pose in Sweetie Pie's restaurant on July 17, 2011, in St. Louis. (Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images OWN)
Andre Montgomery Jr., grandson of Sweetie Pie's owner Robbie Montgomery, is seen on March 25, 2012, when Oprah Winfrey made a trip to St. Louis to surprise the cast of OWN's "Welcome to Sweetie Pie's" series. (George Burns, Harpo Productions)
ST. LOUIS — A federal judge on Friday ordered a defendant in the murder-for-hire case involving a former star on the “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s” reality television show held in jail until trial.
Terica Taneisha Ellis is one of two defendants charged in the 2016 murder of Andre Montgomery Jr., grandson of Robbie Montgomery, owner of the Sweetie Pie’s restaurants in the St. Louis area.
Defense lawyer Brocca Morrison said Ellis was not a danger and needed to be home to care for her 2-year-old daughter, who has a severe type of sickle cell anemia and needs constant monitoring. Ellis has pleaded not guilty.
A prior Ellis lawyer had argued that she wasn’t accused of knowing about the murder in advance. Robbie Montgomery’s son, James Timothy “Tim” Norman, told Ellis he needed her help to find and confront Andre Montgomery about $200,000 in cash that had been stolen from Robbie Montgomery’s house, according to earlier testimony by a St. Louis police detective.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Angie Danis said Friday that Ellis failed to report the crime for more than four years, and was both a danger to the community and a flight risk.
Court documents say Ellis twice reported Andre Montgomery’s location on the day he was killed: the first time to Norman and the second time she called an unidentified man using a prepaid cell phone.
Ellis heard gunshots as she pulled away from the scene of the murder and dumped her prepaid phone at a gas station as she drove home to the Memphis suburbs, according to court testimony.
If convicted, both Ellis and Norman could face a minimum sentence of life without parole. The charge also triggers a review by officials in Washington as to whether prosecutors should seek the death penalty, although approval is rare.
Norman has been arrested but has not yet appeared in court.
The Montgomerys and Norman were regulars on the reality show about Robbie Montgomery’s restaurants.
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September 26, 2020 at 04:30AM
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Judge orders defendant in Sweetie Pie’s murder case held in jail until trial - STLtoday.com
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