This is an extremely long, highly-opinionated article. I say things you might find offensive. My advice is not to read it if you can’t handle cussing or boldness and the truth.
Update: April 2, 2024: A person commented on my Facebook page today when I posted this article there. So, I decided to see if there were any newer articles since I published this article. There was one, so I had added more info. The added content below is in light blue. The news article can be found here if you’d rather read it.
CUMMING, Ga. — Tamla Horsford, 41, was a beautiful, kind, warm, energetic, and loving human being with an infectious smile.
Tamla was born in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 1978 but moved with her family to the United States. in 1989.
She met her husband, Leander Horsford, in Florida. He has a daughter from a previous relationship who Tamla raised as her own. The couple has five sons together. The family eventually moved to Georgia for Leander’s job.
In the fall of 2018, Leander and Tamla were excited because his daughter was having a baby, making them first-time grandparents. Unfortunately, she would never meet her grandchild.
Tamla loved to have fun and has been described as the “life of the party.” In November 2018, she was invited to a birthday/slumber party held at her friend Jeanne Meyers’ home. The two had met through their sons’ school sports.
Meyers’ friend, Stacy Smith, was the party’s host and in charge of sending invitations through Evite on Facebook.
The gathering was supposed to be a fun, low-key event with drinking involved. The party attendees were to spend the night so that no one got behind the wheel of a car drunk.
On Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018, Tamla made a breakfast casserole for her family before attending the party. The invitation asked the women to be there at 7 p.m., but Tamla was late.
She arrived at Meyers’ home at 4450 Woodlet Court at approximately 8:30 p.m. with a bottle of Tequila intended as a birthday gift for Meyers.
Tamla then changed into white onesie pajamas covered with paw prints. She was the only black female at the party.
The party was a BYOB (bring your own booze) and originally intended to be females-only. However, Meyers’ boyfriend, Jose Barrera, then 27, and Smith’s husband, Tom Smith, decided to stay. The Smiths had a gender reveal party earlier in the day at their home for Stacy Smith’s sister, Jamie, and Tom Smith did not want to return home alone to a house filled with Jamie’s college friends.
There were 12 people besides Tamla at the Meyers party, who were later dubbed the Forsyth 12 by Tamla’s advocates. The party group included nine women, two men, and one husband who dropped off and picked up his wife.
- Jeanne Meyers is now Jeanne Gunter (She got married in 2022, updated April 2, 2024)
- Madeline Lombardi (now Verdin)
- Stacy Smith
- Nichole Lawson
- Marcy Hardin
- Paula Seals
- Bridget Fuller
- Sarah Cockerham – (she now lives in Dawsonville, GA. I updated the link to her new school’s page on April 2, 2024)
- Jennifer Morrell
- Jennifer’s husband who dropped off and picked her up
- Jose Barrera
- Tom Smith
The women chatted, ate food, drank alcohol and watched the Alabama-LSU game on the home’s main level while the men watched the game downstairs in the finished basement.
According to the guests, Tamla was a regular smoker and periodically stepped out on the balcony to smoke cigarettes. She also smoked marijuana once, but Meyers asked her to stop because Barrera was “a pretrial officer and did not approve.”
The men joined the women at halftime, and the group played Cards Against Humanity. During the game, Tamla FaceTimed with her children.
The party group took pictures and videos throughout the evening, and none showed Tamla in distress or intoxicated; she appeared to be having fun.
Even though no one was supposed to leave the party, some guests did not stay overnight — Cockerham, Fuller, Hardin, and Lawson.
Guests started going to bed around 1:30 a.m., but Tamla stayed up. Fuller was the last known person to see Tamla alive. She said she chatted briefly with Tamla, who was eating a bowl of gumbo in the kitchen, around 1:45 a.m. Tamla told her that she planned to smoke a cigarette and then head to bed. Fuller’s husband, Gary Fuller, picked her up, and she walked out the door at 1:47 a.m.
Update: According to a 2022 article by 11Alive News, Fuller told the police she and Tamla walked to the front door together. Tamla hugged Fuller and shut the door. However, Gary Fuller said his wife came to the door ALONE.
Nile Cappello of Rolling Stone reported “over the next 10 minutes – between 1:47 a.m. and 1:57 a.m., the home security system registered the back door opening, closing, and then opening again — for the last time — at 1:57 a.m.” It also recorded the garage door opening, closing, and opening again at 1:30 and 1:40 a.m., but no one ever explains why.
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Around 8:30 a.m. the next morning, Lombardi, Meyers’ aunt, awoke and went to make her morning coffee downstairs in the basement where she lived. She saw something on the ground outside in the backyard. It was Tamla Horsford in her paw-print onesie lying facedown. Lombardi knelt and said a prayer (yes, she really did this first) and then went to wake up Meyers and Barrera.
When Lombardi approached the door, she thought she heard running water, so she went back downstairs and waited several minutes before knocking on the door. When they answered, she said she needed Barrera and said to Meyers that something was wrong with her “friend from the islands.” Yeah, she really said that.
Meyers called 911 just before 9 a.m., and she and Barrera both spoke to the dispatcher. Considering Tamla was her friend, Meyers does not sound worried or upset that Tamla is lying motionless on the ground in her backyard.
“She was drinking and [ … ] it looks like — I’m guessing maybe she fell off the balcony,’ Meyers said.
“She’s not moving one bit. She’s not breathing. She’s completely face down in the yard. She is … stiff,” Jose said.
Cumming police officers arrived at the scene within 15 minutes after receiving the call. Paramedics also showed up, but Officer Corey Moore sent them away. Barrera, who was trained in CPR, did not attempt to resuscitate Tamla, and neither did the police officers.
Update: Per the 2022 11Alive article, Barerra “declared her dead after touching or lifting her leg, depending on which report you read.” WTF?
On the body camera audio, one can hear one of the deputies walking another deputy through the different people at the scene. He mentions Jose Barrera. “We’ve got some mutual friends together. I’ve known Jose for a while, we’re friends,” the deputy is heard saying on the video. One can also hear another woman from the party express concerns about getting to her new job on time. After explaining where she works, a deputy tells her, “I’m sure you’re good because your boss is my wife!”
Rebecca Lindstrom, Meredith Sheldon, and Gabriella Nunez — 11Alive News
Tamla was pronounced dead at the scene two hours later.
Barrera told police he found an unlit cigarette and lighter on the upper deck, which suggested to investigators that Tamla went out for a smoke around 1:57 a.m. and accidentally fell to her death.
Authorities ultimately concluded that Tamla died in an accidental fall and found no evidence to suggest foul play.
Leander Horsford said authorities initially told him Tamla had tripped over some garden edging and suffered a fatal injury. Lombardi had done the same thing in the past, though she lived to tell about it.
Police did not collect potential evidence, such as fingerprints. Furthermore, during the autopsy, the medical examiner did not use a sexual assault kit or collect fingernail scrapings.
And while Meyers had security cameras installed at her house, they conveniently were not recording that night.
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Associate Medical Examiner Andrew Koopmeiners completed the GBI Medical Examiner’s report. He stated that the “multiple blunt force injuries” that Tamla’s body sustained were “consistent with those received in a fall.”
Yet her injuries suggested otherwise. Tamla suffered blunt force trauma to the head, neck, torso, and extremities. She also had a broken neck, dislocated wrist, and a laceration to the right ventricle. She had abrasions on her face and fingers and cuts to her arms and legs.
It seems like a whole lot of injuries from a one-story fall, drunk or not. Just sayin’.
Update: 11Alive News also reported that “the dislocated wrist was actually a compound fracture, according to Dr. Shaker, the forensic pathologist that examined Tamla’s body after the GBI… The injury is significant because there was very little blood found at the scene, raising questions about where the injury occurred and whether it happened before or after her death.” Tamla’s father believes the injury occurred post-mortem and Dr. Shaker agreed, noting it in his report. The GBI listed on their report that Tamla had a fractured spine. However, Dr. Shaker said it was not a fractured spine.
Shaker also pointed out what Koopmeiners did not find. Shaker wrote in his report, “The absence of bruising to broken bones in her skull raises the flag to the cause of death as falling from the second story of a building.”
According to Cappello, “Lead investigator Mike Christian wrote that Tamla’s body position was examined at the scene in his incident report. Most notable, when Tamla was turned over, was the fact she had come to rest face down.”
Her legs were extended behind her, with both feet pointing to the right. Her right arm was close to the body, while the left arm was extended and bent at the elbow. Despite landing face down, Tamla suffered no facial injuries other than minor abrasions.
Update: Meyers was initially convinced Tamla did not fall from the balcony and posted her concerns on social media. 11Alive reviewed the investigation documents and noted that Christian “echoed that theory, telling the medical examiner, ‘the position of the body does not appear that she had fallen directly from the balcony, rather … ground level.’
Sheriff deputies at the crime scene were also puzzled. “If you go to brace yourself with your left hand and there ain’t nothing to brace yourself with, you’d spin you know what I’m saying?” Another deputy responded. “It doesn’t make sense. It’s kind of like a nosedive.”
Barrera and Meyers insisted “both hands were by her side, palms up when they called 911.”
“It’s the weirdest thing. She was face down but her arms were down like she just face-planted — is the best way I can describe it,” Meyers said. One of the deputies later changed his story. He never mentioned in his report having “touched or interacted with the body. But when the GBI kept asking questions about Tamla’s arm, he stated he took her pulse and may have moved her arm.” Bloody hell.
The toxicology report revealed a Blood Alcohol Content at .238, almost three times the legal limit (.08) to drive. This high of a BAC usually leads to blackouts, loss of coordination, and vomiting and is equivalent to eight-plus drinks, depending on the victim’s weight. Yet, people at the party said she never appeared intoxicated. Tamla does not have a drink in her hand in the group photo like a few others.
Tamla also had THC and the anxiety drug, Alprazolam in her system. Her friends have stated on social media she did not take Alprazolam.
Update: 11Alive News mentions a woman at the party who took Xanax regularly. They do not reveal her name. The GBI had subpoenaed her cell phone and found evidence, likely text messages, that she had given some of her friends Xanax before the party and to one of them on the day of Tamla’s death. However, “she insisted she only shared her drugs because she knew the women well.” The woman claimed she did not know Tamla. Sure, lady, it’s your story.
Officials never tested Tamla for illegal drugs, telling Cappello that “it’s standard policy not to test for illicit substances when the possible suspect is deceased, as there would be nobody to hold accountable if they were to find drugs present.”
Well, that is some dumb shit, right there. I cover more on this in my “thoughts” section at the end.
Did you notice they said “suspect?”
Once the toxicology reports were released, the GBI and FCSO concluded that Tamla got wasted at the party and fell off the balcony after everyone went to sleep.
Ralph Fernandez is the lawyer representing Tamla’s family. He reviewed the evidence in Tamla’s case and later released a letter summarizing his findings. He concluded that “homicide is a strong possibility” and believes scratches on Tamla’s hands and wounds are defensive wounds, which likely indicates she was fending off an attack, Cappello reported.
Fernandez was surprised by the lack of autopsy photos, which he said is “practically unheard of” in a case like this one and most “likely done at someone’s direction.” Of course, the FCSO and GBI released statements claiming autopsy pictures were taken and held that Tamla died in an accidental fall.
GBI confirmed in an email to Rolling Stone that “autopsy photos were taken, and claimed the holdup is related to a missing release from Tamla’s next of kin.”
Fernandez, however, insisted the GBI did not mention the release until after he went public. It is unclear if he ever received the pictures, but he had not received them at the time of the Rolling Stone article.
Detective Mike Christian has zero talent as an investigator. I think he must have received his training from a Cracker Jack box.
He did not start interviewing the killers party-goers until Nov. 9, 2018, and the last one took place on Nov. 20, 2018.
Meyers, her young stud, Barrera, and Lombardi were interviewed at Meyers’ home, not at FCSO, on Nov. 9. The other interviews occurred on Nov. 14, 16, 19, and 20.
Christian started every single interview with something along the lines of “Just tell me in general about the party and what was going on…” He let the witnesses do all the talking. And what did the genius detective say during most of the interviews?
“Mm-hmm,” “Sure,” “Right,” “Yeah,” and “Ok.” He rarely asked questions.
When Christian did ask questions, it always was, “How much did Tamla drink?” “How drunk was Tamla?” “Did you see Tamla smoking on the deck?” “Did anyone else smoke with her?” “Did she smoke weed?” “Do you smoke?”
Seriously, I wanted to slap him because he was obsessed with Tamla drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes and marijuana. You know, the hard stuff.
He also asked stupid and odd questions.
Christian asked Barrera, “What kind of food did you have there?” Did it really matter what food was served at the party? Or is he like Homer Simpson and fantasizes and drools over food at the mere mention of it? Mmm, potato chips. 🤣
One of the weirdest questions Christian asked Lombardi was if she had set her clock back the night before. This was after she told him what time she awoke on Nov. 4, I believe. And when she told him no, he responded, “So, the time on the clock was correct?”
And he asked every single party attendee at the end of the interview the most f*cked up question: Is there anything that you can think of that I didn’t ask you that maybe I should?
What kind of Cracker-Jack-box-Empire-State-of-the-Quacks-bullshit police training did he receive?
Christian asked numerous leading questions and came across as entirely uninterested in investigating Tamla’s death, as if he wished he was elsewhere — you know, wearing his white hood at a rally or something.
There were several red flags and inconsistencies in the interviews, but he seemed oblivious to all of them. I can’t imagine why.
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The police interviews hurt my brain when I read them because it is so apparent the “Forsyth 12” were very nervous. I couldn’t tell you how many times Tom Smith said the word “um” throughout his interview. Same with his wife. Same with Lombardi. Well, pretty much all of them. Let’s say it was probably close to a KAZILLION.
There are many, many inconsistencies in their police statements. Additionally, they come across as liars and manipulators who know the law is on their side.
Jeanne Meyers
Meyers is probably the most laughable person in the entire group. While Christian and his sidekick Barney Fife Tyler Sexton were interviewing Lombardi, Meyers, and I shit you not, presented the investigators with Dunkin Donuts gift cards. But I’m sure she wasn’t trying to BRIBE the detectives. 😉 😉
Of course, Christian and Sexton said they could not accept the cards in the interview.
Then, in December 2020, Jeanne posted this picture on her Facebook page. Check out the hashtag, “if you know, you know.” Yes, you vile snake, we know.
Aww, how cute. They all have the same hair color — dumb blonde.
Anyone else suddenly feel the urge to bitch-slap these ladies after seeing this picture, or is it just me?
In Meyers’ statement, she says she arrived at her own party at 7:15 and that “everyone was already here or getting here.” Then, shouldn’t “everyone” have included Tamla? Right away, she says, “Tamla was the last one here at 8:30.”
Okay, but Tamla was not the last person to arrive. That would be Paula Seals, who arrived around 10 p.m., according to Seals’ and Nichole Lawson’s interview.
I love this part of Meyers’ interview:
SEXTON: Did, the next morning, did it look like she (Tamla) had ever made it into the bed?
MEYERS: She never made it to the bed.
SEXTON: OK.
MEYERS: Well, I’m saying she never made, it was never messed up or anything.
Nice save, Meyers.
Then there’s the status update Meyers posted on her Facebook the day after the party.
“There was no fall from my deck.”
She deleted the post, but CBS46 obtained a screenshot of it. Basically, she disputed what investigators said had happened to Tamla. Her lawyer tried explaining it away, but we hear you loud and clear, Meyers.
Madeline Lombardi
Lombardi said she awoke around 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 4 and sat in bed for about 15 minutes. Then, she went to make coffee in the basement and saw Tamla’s lifeless body outside.
Morrell said she awoke around 7:30 a.m. – 7:45 a.m. By 8 a.m., she was ready for her husband to pick her up. She said she saw Lombardi in the kitchen around this time, and Lombardi was acting “kind of weird.” Later in the interview, Morrell changed the time to fit with Lombardi’s account, as if she knew she had messed up.
Lombardi also said in her statement that Tom and Stacy Smith “left in the early morning hours. They have kids, so I guess they just got some rest and slept off the alcohol and decided to leave.” Yet, the couple told detectives they left the Meyers home after 8 a.m.
Some of the “12” said everyone but Tamla arrived between 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Lombardi said Lawson arrived at 4 p.m. Lawson told Christian she got there at 6 p.m. Lombardi also said that Meyers and Stacy Smith arrived about “45 minutes to an hour” after Lawson, which puts Meyers arriving by 5 p.m. Meyers told Christian she arrived at 7:15. How she arrived at her own party at 7:15 is beyond me. It was at her house.
Lombardi said she was out on the balcony with Tamla while Tamla smoked. She said this was between the time Tamla arrived and when the game started. Well, the game began around 8 p.m., but the guests said Tamla came at 8:30/some said 8 and 9 p.m. So, did Tamla get there at 8:30 or not?
Tamla wanted to take a picture of everyone, but Lombardi told her that she would take it so Tamla could be in the picture, too. Then, they sat down to watch the game. So, Lombardi took the group photo before the game started, which explains why Seals was not in the picture; she had not arrived yet. Meyers and others said Madeline took the picture at halftime.
Bridget Fuller
Lombardi said that Fuller AND HER HUSBAND arrived before 7 p.m. Fuller, who rambled and rambled and rambled in the interview to the point I almost had a seizure, never mentioned her husband being at the party. Lombardi could have mistaken her for Morrell. However, Morrell said that her husband had dropped her off and never mentioned him being inside the Meyers home.
Fuller said she called or texted Meyers or Stacy Smith before she arrived at the party to see if she needed to pick up anything, like ice or whatever, on her way.
Fuller: Ok and then you know we stopped, and we got a nice (inaudible) of the blueberry vodka because there were nine women involved, you know, and God forbid, God forbid you know women can put away you know the alcohol and you some people put away the wine, everything.
You know? Sorry, had to. Ha!
“We” is her and her husband, Gary, who drove her to the party. Notice how Fuller said, “Nine women involved.” The fact that she said the number of women and not just “women” is strange. Even stranger, there were 10 women, including Tamla, yet she specifically said nine. Honey, nine is after Tamla is deceased, not before.
Fuller was wearing sleep pants in the group photo but claimed she did not stay the night. Why would she wear them if she intended to leave? And why did she allegedly leave around 2 a.m.? Well, she had an explanation for Christian. Fuller claimed in her interview that she did not like sleeping in other people’s beds. Yeah, okay.
Fuller also discussed Barrera’s appearance at the party and said that he was sitting to her left on the couch when Lombardi took the group pic. He was cropped out for some reason. Yet, others and Barrera himself said he was downstairs with Tom Smith until the game’s halftime.
Other Inconsistencies
Some of the guests said Tamla was the last one to arrive at the party, but as mentioned above, this is not true — it was Seals.
Cockerham told Christian she did not remember seeing Tamla go out to the deck to smoke. Yet, the others said she went out several times. Cockerham quickly added, “I wasn’t paying attention.”
Morrell told Christian that Tamla arrived at the Meyers home already dressed in her pajamas, yet the others said she changed into them there.
While not one of the “Forsyth 12” interviewed could confirm what type of alcohol each other drank, each knew exactly what Tamla drank. They described the Tequila bottle in the same manner, almost as if they had rehearsed what to say. 😜 “She got it in Mexico.” “It was blue.” “It was a tall bottle.” “She tried to get everyone to drink it.”
The party-goers said Tamla drank the Tequila, but Lombardi said she was drinking Vodka.
Some of the “12” told Christian they did not know Tamla, had just met her that night, or had known “of her” for several years. Yet, one has to wonder how this is possible if they were all friends with Meyers, who appears to be a very sociable person.
Incident Report
The incident report stated that the party guests said Tamla was drinking heavily and highly intoxicated. However, in their police interviews, they said she did not appear intoxicated at all, and they did not know how much she had to drink, stating only that the Tequila bottle was nearly empty the following morning.
The police called Tamla’s death an “accidental fall.” So, why did they put up crime scene tape? And in the living room, no less.
Sexton wrote that Tamla’s pajamas were clean when he examined the body. No grass or grass stains? Other debris from the ground?
Christian said marks on Tamla’s shins corresponded with “a metal landscaping which was part of the yard and found near her feet.” But this is not present in the crime scene photos that I can see.
Meyers told Christian that everyone started going to bed at 1:30, but the report says 1 a.m.
The report also says the guests last saw Tamla alive around 1 a.m. in the living room, but Fuller saw her in the kitchen eating gumbo at 1:45 a.m.
In her interview, Lombardi told Christian she saw Tamla’s body through the basement window. However, the incident report states that Lombardi told the officer she went outside to check the weather, and that is when she found her.
An additional name is listed with the Forsyth 12 on the police report – Michael J. Pallerino, aged 55. Who the hell is this guy? I have not seen his name anywhere else.
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By February 2019, the Forsyth 12 had lawyered up and whined about receiving death threats from Tamla’s supporters.
Michelle Graves is a close friend of Tamla’s and her most notable advocate. She understandably believes the party-goers killed Tamla and threw her body over the balcony.
To top it off, because these people are as shallow as it gets, seven of the Forsyth 12 filed a lawsuit against Graves for accusatory posts on her Facebook page in February 2019. A judge dismissed that lawsuit, but the group appealed. For whatever reasons, Meyers and Barrera were dropped from the suit.
Tamla’s family does not believe she died from an accidental fall. The department’s racist supporters have publicly harassed those associated with Tamla, who have criticized the FCSO.
Hmm, I wonder if they will harass me if they happen to read my article. Ooh, I’m so scared. 🙀 What will I do? 🖕
Ashland Harris advocated for the reopening of Tamla’s case and also organized a Change.org petition. A Cumming police officer detained her while looking for three men involved in a car accident in November 2019. He called in an FCSO deputy to help with the investigation. Ashland was cleared and let go but later filed a complaint against the officer involved. However, Police Chief David Marsh exonerated him. Of course, he did.
Later that month, FCSO deputies showed up at Ashland’s home with a warrant for her devices, accusing her of sending accusatory anonymous emails to one of the party attendees. She denied writing the emails and later sued FCSO Detective Jeffrey Roe and Sheriff Ron Freeman for civil rights violations.
Because the bullshit in this case never ends, here’s some more for you.
It appears, quite surprisingly, that Detective Mike Christian was a bit of a ladies’ man. Oh yeah, a real “Don Juan.”
Funny, I pegged him as more of a Deputy Pell kind of guy. If you know, you know. 😈
Christian had a couple of girlfriends who were not his WIFE, and one of them told Mike Petchenik of WSB-TV that he had taken pictures of Tamla’s body and sent them to her.
Yes, because women get turned on by death photos.
“I mean, I was on the phone with him when he got dispatch to that call,” she told Petchenik in January. “We were just chatting on the phone … and he’s snapping me pictures of her dead body laying (sic) there.”
Where are these pictures?
A second woman said of Tamla: “I knew when she died, how she died, the toxicology reports. So he was just throwing this information out there like it was nothing.”
The women told Petchenik they believe Christian shared the information as a “way to keep the women interested in him.”
Cue the “L” for L-O-S-E-R.
Internal affairs investigated and concluded that Don Juan was “routinely sending pictures, videos and other sensitive information from cases on which he was working to the women, and the sheriff determined he violated his oath of office and neglected his duties,” Petchenik reported.
Don Juan resigned in January.
Of course, Christian sent Petchenik a statement. Are you ready? It’s a doozy.
Here you go.
“I am far from a perfect human. I chose to end a long-term extramarital relationship abruptly. This person, out of anger and hurt, chose to go to Sheriff Freeman with a list of alleged misconduct on my part. In 20/20 hindsight I would not have resigned but stayed for the investigation and taken what punishment was fitting up to termination. As is, the I.A. investigation lacks my side of the story and makes me out to be something I am not. All the good I had ever done in sixteen years of law enforcement is gone with this document. I chose my wife of fifteen years over another woman. We are together and undergoing counseling. I made the right decision. I may never drive a patrol car again. But I have the real love of my life and that is all I need.”
Aww. Someone grab the tissues.
A few things…
Of course, he blames the women for his screw-ups! I noticed he never denied the allegations and seemed to admit to them in his statement.
“All the good I had ever done in sixteen years…” What exactly would this be? Because it sure as hell wasn’t PROPERLY investigating a likely murder in November 2018. I wonder how many other cases he investigated were “accidents.”
He has the “real love of my life.” If she was the love of your life, why did you cheat on her? Cue Paula Abdul’s “Cold-Hearted.”
He’s a cold-hearted snake
Look into his eyes
Oh ohhh
He’s been tellin’ lies
Sorry, not sorry.
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Little Bit About Forsyth County
Forsyth County lies within the Atlanta metro area, approximately 40 miles northeast of Atlanta. Cumming is the county seat and the setting for which this crime takes place.
For nearly all of the 20th century, Forsyth County’s population was mostly white.
Forsyth County’s history is sinister yet unsurprising.
In 1912, all black residents were forced to leave the county after the lynching of a man named Rob Edwards, who, along with other black suspects, was accused of raping and murdering a young white woman named Mae Crow.
After the lynching, if a black person returned to Forsyth County, they were forced to leave or shot. The county remained all-white for nearly 75 years.
According to Census.gov, Forsyth County remains nearly 80 percent white today. Most of the remaining population are Asian (15.5 percent) and Black (4.4 percent).
Racism still exists, of course. Take Chris Shelton, for example. Today, he’s Forsyth County’s deputy coroner, appointed by Sheriff Ron Freeman. Under a previous sheriff’s authority, Shelton was fired for making racist Mammy dolls. Freeman rehired him because, well, two peas from the same pod.
According to the “Justice for Tamla Horsford” Facebook page, Freeman’s office was in charge of investigating Tamla’s case. Christian’s supervisor, Andy Kalin, was friends with Barrera.
Shelton is friends with Brian DeBlois, a military veteran. DeBlois and his wife, Anna, are good friends with Stacy and Tom Smith. That’s Anna in the pic below, on the left.
Oh, and I could not forget this bit of info for you, per WGXA: On Tuesday, November 10, 2020, former Forsyth County Chief Deputy Grady Sanford, age 56, was arrested and charged with two counts of distribution of child pornography.
What an outstanding police department.
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Interesting Tidbits
In February 2019, Barrera was terminated for illegally accessing the Horsford incident report and name record for Jeanne Meyers via the Records Management System database on a work computer.
Meyers sold her home, aka the death house, just months after Tamla’s death in June 2019 for $389,000 to a Forsyth County cop – go figure. Hmm, I wonder why she sold her home. Let me think a minute. It’s coming to me. OH YEAH!
Tamla’s obvious murder remained virtually unknown across the country until the Black Lives Matter movement renewed social media interest. Big celebrities such as 50 Cent and Kim Kardashian encouraged people to sign a petition that called for investigators to reopen the investigation. Within a short period of time, the petition had nearly 600,000 signatures. Only after this occurred did Freeman ask GBI to reopen the case in June 2020.
GBI did reopen the investigation, but nothing has happened with the investigation since.
Recently, Leander Horsford spoke for the first time since his wife’s death.
Horsford said his wife would have never shown up to a party with people she didn’t know well and gotten so drunk that she would have fallen.
“I’m not saying it wasn’t an accident, but I am saying it was a coverup,” Horsford told Petchenik. “I’m saying they made it look like something else.”
The family believes Horsford’s body sustained injuries after she died.
Mike Petchenik, WSB-TV
True Crime Diva’s Thoughts
I had not heard of this case until I saw someone discussing it on TikTok. I knew right away I had to write about Tamla, and I also knew this post would be completely different than what you are used to and more like how I used to write when I first created this blog. I make no apologies for the things I say here. This case pisses me off! And if it doesn’t piss you off, you’re not human.
Let’s call this what it is – MURDER. And don’t try to convince me otherwise; it would be pointless.
I would not rule out that Tamla was purposely lured to Meyers’ home. Here’s what I think. Tamla was beaten to death by someone or more than one person at that party. The “Forsyth 12” are covering it up with the help of their friends at FCSO and Cumming PD.
For me, it’s all the inconsistencies in the interviews and police report. If you tell the truth, your story never changes and there should be no inconsistencies in police statements.
I do not believe Tamla went out on the deck to smoke a cigarette. I believe she was already dead when the security system recorded the back door opening, closing, and opening again. I think the others came and went for 10 minutes and left the door open as part of the cover-up. Then, they staged her body on the ground to make it look like she fell to her death.
Whether there was an unlit cigarette and lighter on the deck, I doubt it.
There is absolutely no way Tamla would have landed in the position she was found in if she had accidentally fallen. And would she have died from a 1-story fall? I’m skeptical. I know a guy who fell four stories off a balcony. He survived, barely. So, I don’t think the 15-20-foot fall would have killed her.
A couple of things I did not mention above because I wanted to put them here. Stacy Smith said in her statement that Tamla wanted to drive home, but she and Tom would not let her leave because she had been drinking. Yet, four others were allowed to go home. That makes zero sense because, according to the guests, she did not appear intoxicated at all!
It was cold that night because, according to Meyers’ interview, the group tried to “get the fire pit on” but failed. So, if Tamla kept going outside for a smoke, why didn’t she put her coat on? Why was she found without a coat the next morning?
Why did the state medical examiner perform an autopsy if she died accidentally, as the police insist? According to the GBI, “A complete autopsy may not be performed in cases of natural death in which an adequate medical history exists to document the illness, and in which no indications of foul play exist.”
According to the Forsyth County Coroner’s Office, “Autopsies are not mandatory to determine cause of death except in situations where death cannot be reasonably explained.”
Officials said there was no evidence of foul play and that she fell to her death, so why perform an autopsy?
They also said they did not check for illicit substances. Yet, THC was allegedly detected using the same type of testing — Immunoassays, which can detect up to six classes of drugs, including marijuana, and their breakdown products, which are known as metabolites, according to the GBI’s Division of Forensic Sciences.
“Blood can further be screened for a wide range of prescription and over-the-counter medications using Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry Mass Spectrometry, commonly known as LC/MS/MS.”
If Tamla did not regularly take Alprazolam, officials could have performed further testing called confirmation testing because the “repercussions of a false-positive screen can be dramatic,” according to HCPLive.com.
I do not believe Tamla drank all the alcohol the authorities say she drank. If you look at the group photo, Tamla does not even have a drink in her hand, but others do. I think she probably drank that night but not as much as they say she did.
Every female interviewed said she did not come across as drunk. “She seemed fine.” And according to Rolling Stone, she appeared fine in the videos taken that night.
Barrera was supposed to be gone for the night but decided at the last minute to attend the party. WHY? I mean, if I were Meyers and I wanted an all-girls party, the boyfriend would know not to show.
Barrera is Hispanic and the only person Christian asked, “Did you throw Tamla off the balcony?” Barrera said no. But why didn’t Christian ask the same to Tom Smith or any of the other people?
One of my first thoughts: Why did the security system register the back door opening if Tamla went out on the main floor balcony to smoke? She was last seen in the kitchen by Fuller. There is an entrance door leading from the kitchen to the balcony and one leading from the basement.
In her police interview, Meyers, of course, explained this to Detective Christian. The doors are labeled for the security system, so the back door is the door off the kitchen that leads to the upper deck/balcony. The basement door is the outside entrance leading from the walkout basement.
But what about the garage door? Someone opened, closed, and opened it again. No one explains this in the interviews. Hauling Tamla’s body out through the garage and around the back, maybe? Where they beat her to death?
I’m not even convinced ANYONE went home that night.
Marcy Hardin said she left at 4:10 a.m., but you have to wonder why she did not stay the entire night. I think she had planned to stay the night, but shit happened, and she high-tailed it out of there. Or these people are lying about anyone leaving.
Why isn’t Paula Seals in the group photo? Well, it must be before she arrived at 10 p.m. I’m assuming this is her in the middle because it’s clear she is not any of the women in the group photo. Meyers named the women in the photo for Christian, and Seals was not one of them. Remember, Lombardi said she took the group pic when the game started and not at halftime.
Tamla’s supporters say Tamla Facetimed with her kids around 12:30. This was also when they were playing the card game. There is a short video clip of this on Michelle’s FB. I tried to upload it here, but I could not for some reason.
The group says the men came upstairs at halftime, and then they played the card game. But halftime would have been around 9:30/10 p.m. Lombardi said she took the pic before the game started or as it was starting.
Why did Christian interview Barrera, Meyers, and Lombardi at Meyers’ home versus the police station? This is obvious in the interview with Meyers because she refers to “here” a lot when talking about the night of the party. And why did Christian wait SIX days before interviewing them? Why was the last person interviewed 16 days after Tamla’s death?
It is so evident that the 12 were exceedingly nervous during their police interviews and lied about the events on Nov. 3, 2018. As mentioned above, many of them, if not all, rambled on and on throughout the entire interview. They talked about shit that was entirely irrelevant to the investigation. And Christian let them.
Images of Tamla at top of page: https://www.instagram.com/justicefortam/
46 comments
Could she have been shoved down the stairs and then moved to try and make it look like she fell off the balcony? This whole case is bs! The FBI or any higher agency then that crooked, incompetent, small town cops should reopen this case and investigate!
My Dad was in a construction accident 30 years ago he fell from a steel beam on a job site. Both legs shattered, his left heel is held together by pins, he had a skull fracture, broken ribs and a punctured lung. He had 4 back surgeries, 2 neck surgeries the first year and became permanently disabled. The height he fell from? 12 feet. His co-worker died.
I had a neighbor who was a construction worker. In the 1970s, he fell off a roof and broke his arm, and I think his ribs were injured. He lived. He was in his 70s at the time. I think each situation is different, but I do not believe Tamla died from a fall.
There is no way to have fallen that short distance and have all those horrible injuries. This woman not only had a broken neck BUT internal injuries. It’s not logical.
There is no way on god’s green earth that this woman died from massive, serious injuries from falling from that balcony. Anyone who believes so is a total idiot. I believe she was beaten to death then thrown off the balcony. What a travesty of justice.
Yes!! Agree 100%!
First off, I love all the sarcasm because I can hear it coming out of my own mouth!
Secondly, this is so obviously a murder. The whole slumber party itself sounds weird to say the least; I didn’t know grown women still had such things. If it wasn’t stated that it was Jeanne’s (which she apparently pronounces like the male French name “Jean”?) birthday was the reason for it, I would have assumed that the whole event was planned to lure Tamla to the home to kill her.
This really seems less of a whodunnit (although I highly doubt all 12 people physically took part in actually killing her), but more of a “why did they do it”? What possible motive could any one or all of them have had to take Tamla’s life when everyone seemed to be having a good time earlier? Could it have been an argument that suddenly turned violent? But again, what was the argument about? Oy….
Haha! Too funny! I was worried people may not like this side of me!
I thought the “slumber party” was weird, too, mostly because of their ages. I’m with you — the birthday party kind of rules out them luring Tamla there.
I agree with you. I don’t believe all 12 took part. I think the key players are Barrera, Meyers, the Smiths, and Nichole Lawson.
I tend to think that this was less of a planned killing and more of a heat of the moment fight that went too far. What the fight was about we’ll probably never know unless and until someone spills the beans. I don’t believe Tamla had any inkling that anything bad would happen that night.
I’m not sticking up for any of the 12 suspects, but I would think if this whole thing was premeditated, they would have had better explanations for things such as why Tamla had no coat despite the cold November weather. Instead, it sounds like they were kind of pulling it out of their asses as they went along. And lucky for them, the “investigators” ended up being worthless.
I wonder how these “friends” talked or felt about Tamla when she wasn’t around prior to her death. Again, a good (or even adequate) investigator would probably have quickly sussed that out. Instead, they inquire about the food at the party.
I think you’re right. She seemed to be having a good time, so it makes sense that an argument of some kind broke out.
I agree, I do not think at all it was planning but indeed was a “heat of the moment” act that occurred. I rather imagine, too, that most of these people, including the woman who invited her, talked smack about her if she wasn’t around and her name came up. Would truly love to know what the argument or what it was that happened was about, which is why I wonder if one of the men came on to her and was rejected and then, perhaps with his courage enlivened by alcohol, attacked her and ended up killing her. Maybe he even thought he would “only” have knocked her around a bit and then his true ugly and violent nature came out. We will never know, that’s the only thing about this situation that I feel certain of. Her injuries….I am an RN of 37 years and I truly see how a fall even from one story could cause a broken neck, depending upon how someone lands…but the extent of all the injuries! And she was face down and has only a few abrasions? No broken nose? Huh?
First of all you should write every case like this one!! Stick to how you started this blog in the first place!!
About the case I think this is the biggest load of bollocks I have ever heard in my life! They are all liars! The photos of them make me want to vomit with their identical hair and lovey dovey false talk on Facebook! God these people are sad and shallow!
The red flags for me is why men turned up to a woman’s only party!? The party was sold to tamla as female only party but then on arrival it turns out there was men planning to be there? The thing is your already at the party then so it’s hard to back out. I think the whole thing was a set up for reasons unknown to us. That’s why the men were there. I think they were there all along for whatever plan these evil people had in place. I do feel as if there was something set in place that everyone was privy to except tamla. You say for what reason and you say why would racist people invite a black women to the party, well over the years you hear of people getting set up like this all the time. Black or white actually where people lure them to places to carry out a pre ordained plan!! In this case it’s set in a county that was white peoples only for years and known for racism. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was something that tamla did that these bitches didn’t like, so they set up a situation to teach her a lesson and things got out of hand. A big reason of not liking her being just cause she is a black women!! I think this is the kind of case where there will be so many twisted layers to it, which we may never find out cause they are being protected by incompetent racist police work!! Honestly it’s shocking how bad the case was handled. In this day and age to be handled so badly and to miss opportunities of completing a rape kit for one!! The injuries are not consistent with that small fall! I mean was tamla still alive when all this was happening to her? Scary thought! It’s just so bad all of it!! Tamla was a mom with a family! How dare they take her away from them!!
Thank you, Rebecca! I rather enjoyed writing this way!
I agree 100% with what you said about this case. So much injustice here, it’s ridiculous!
I honestly think your ace!!! My kind of lady!! That’s how I roll, brutal honesty. Which granted some people seem to struggle with (which I never understand) as people are always moaning about honesty and that they want it. But then when they get it they don’t really want it!! There quite happy really with falseness and nicey nicey. Personally I would rather honesty. I don’t mean nasty way. Because I don’t like nasty people either. But honest people that are themselves and nice if you know what I mean. Like I never understand ghosting someone! But I’m waffling and going off topic! Just keep up the amazing work! It’s all good however you write it! X
Thank you!! Yeah, some people can’t handle brutal honesty. I’ve always been one for it!
You’re my kind of person.
This sounds like one of those movies where everyone is guilty & at some point with some pressure, someone is going to spill the beans. All 12 people know what happened, I think at least 4 of the women had an active hand in killing her. We can’t ignore the obvious racial aspect of it. I think that killing a black person had been something they all wanted to do at some point in time. They just pick Tamela & this time to do it. This was planned out to the tee, knowing they would have the support of law enforcement. I’m telling you, one of the 9 is the weakest link, you put enough pressure on her! What it all boils down to is this, this was a modern day lynching with an audience.
I don’t think I have ever heard of a case involving so much lying, negligence, violence, and sheer indifference all mixed into one big pile of S***. I am certain there are many, just none that I personally have read about. a bunch of dumb, white, Southern good ol’ boys and girls (disclosure: I am both female, white, and Southern, but, hopefully, not dumb, at least, not THIS dumb, and certainly not violent)) gettin’ together and then one or more decides to have too much to drink and maybe puts the moves on the one black woman present, gets rejected, and goes crazy and decides to put her in her place and kills her, and the rest, of course, cover for the friend(s). After all, she’s not that important: just another human being with people who love her and who has a life that mattered greatly. I am sad and furious and nauseated all at once. Thank you for writing about this one. I had not heard of it until I read it just a few minutes ago. I hope something happens here, some real facts maybe will shake loose or whatever, but I doubt it. And some of these people were supposed to be her FRIEND??
Exactly!! I think you are right about one of the men. That was one of the first things I thought of for motive. It’s just beyond ridiculous.
I really think this was an all girls thing.
Hi, thanks for your reply. I felt maybe I went a bit too far in what I said and was worried about overdoing it, but in retrospect, I still think what I said could very possibly be what happened. One thing we know for sure: a lovely woman has lost her life, and she DID NOT fall!
No, you’re fine! 🙂
Thank you so much, TCD! I am so glad, by the way, that I found you and your blog. It’s excellent and I enjoy it a great deal.
You’re welcome! Aww, thank you! I’m glad you enjoy it!
Thank you so much, TCD! I am so glad,
You’re welcome!
This is just awful! But I have one question-why? What was the reason?
That’s what I’d like to ask the party-goers.
That’s what I’d like to ask, I mean, why? But I guess I can’t fathom the reason because I’m not evil like these 12 p.o.s. Please excuse my language but this makes me angry.
Same!
Their “interviews” with LE were a joke!
I believe it was strictly racial.
I agree!
This case is so F—ING DISGUSTING! But I do have to ask the big question: WHY!? What was the motive? At one point you imply that Tamla was lured there…okay, why? Was the motive simply pure racism? I don’t think so. While racism might have been involved, any of the actual people that I’ve known over the years that I would classify as “racist” DID NOT socialize with black people when they didn’t have to—in fact, they avoided black people as much as they could. They didn’t invite black people to their homes, parties and social gatherings. While the party goers obviously had connections to law enforcement that they felt comfortable using, I find it odd that the 12 would say to themselves ahead of time, “Hey, there’s this black lady named Tamla that we can invite over on the pretense of friendship, and then we can murder her secretly and commit the perfect crime because we know that local law enforcement would be on our side because they hate black people too (or…they are incompetent as has been exhibited).” None of that makes any sense to me.
For what it/s worth: I’m a white man. A few years back, My wife and I attended a party at the home of some black people that I was acquainted with whom I liked and respected but did not know especially well. There was a truly diverse group of people at the party, whites, blacks, and others. Most of the guests were pleasant and friendly enough, however, there was one guy that made me feel rather….uneasy. He was a black man that happened to be a co-worker with the host. While this guy was not blatantly rude or mean, I got a bad vibe from him. At the end of the night as my wife and I were on our way home, I mentioned that it was nice of them to invite us to their party and that they seemed to have a wide variety of friends who were nice people, except for that one guy.. My wife described him as “grumpy.” I said, “No, he wasn’t grumpy. He was thuggish. I got a bad feeling about him and while he wasn’t disrespectful or rude, I sensed a thuggish vibe from him.” Thankfully nothing ever went beyond that, but it did make me a little extra cautious for future reference. Internally I questioned why the host of the party, who comes off as very friendly and kind and professional would be friends with someone like the fellow I met. Then again, he was a co-worker; maybe they were just acquaintances as well. Who knows– It only takes one bad apple, right?
My thoughts: I realize that this is nothing more than conjecture, but I do find it odd that some men had decided to crash the party. Let’s say that one of those men was drinking a little more than he should have. Let’s say that said man is a bit thuggish himself. Let’s say that man sees a pretty black lady named Tamla and gets a bit of “Jungle Fever.” Let’s say that man is already inundated with liquid courage and decides to force himself on Tamla. Let’s say that it didn’t go as planned.
Again…I could be wrong. I just find it odd that there’s no apparent motive in this case.
.
Well, as far as the people there not being racist, maybe Meyers, her “friend,” wasn’t, but that doesn’t mean the others weren’t. I mentioned it as a possibility that she was lured there. I’m not saying she was. And as far as motive, who knows? An altercation could have broken out. That’s what her friends believe is possible. Numerous people have been killed over stupid things, including the color of someone’s skin. They had their reasons. There’s no way this was an accident. I do think the men played a big part in her death, though. I agree with what you said about that.
I think it is a great probability that some sort of altercation broke out and caused the whole thing.
Yeah, it seems the most logical!
Women have a different thought pattern than men. Southern privileged white racist women who are bored with their mundane lives can absolutely set all of this up. They definitely can invite her over under false pretense. KNOWING that law enforcement is on their side. You should probably watch some Lifetime movies, you’ll be surprised by the cunningness of some women with an evil agenda.
You know, the whole things sounds like a C-level Lifetime film, doesn’t it? Good comparison.
But why did some of them go home before the incident? If they were all out to kill her to begin with why did some leave? If they wanted to kill her why do it the way they did? It’s always possible of course in the times we live in. Maybe they were offended by a black family moving into their “territory”. The FBI should have gotten involved. What a tragedy.
I can’t see it being set up, either, in fact, I cannot see them inviting her at all! I say that because: their behaviour at the time of her death and afterwards, in the police station and post-interviews seems to me that she would not be someone that any of them would have liked well enough to have invited to anything, especially a sleep over at one of their homes. They displayed a flagrant lack of caring and seemed to almost shrug it off when she was lying there, dead, on the lawn. I think it probably happened spontaneously when one of the men made unwanted advances to her (as you indicate, above). There again, though, I can’t see why someone invited her in the first place, They certainly don’t seem, from reading what I read, to be the type to socialize with anyone of a different race. I realize I don’t know anything about them, the party, or the situation other than what I have read here, so my knowledge and therefore my opinions, will be limited, but just based on what I have read, they seem to be a stunningly blase group of people when it comes to someone dying at one of their homes, and that is nothing about which to be indifferent.
I agree. I just threw that out there as a possibility. You just never know what people will do sometimes.
Oh yes, you are absolutely right about that, you definitely do not know what people will do sometimes. Anything here is a possibility, I guess. I just cannot get over their attitude. Even guilty people usually act more concerned than these people, who did not bother to act sad or surprised at all.
Racism is definitely real, however I don’t like to attribute racist motivations to every crime that involves interracial perps and victims. It certainly COULD be racism, but again, the few racists that I’ve known over the years didn’t want to associate themselves with people who were different, and for the record, this INCLUDES black people that didn’t want to hang out with white people as well as white people that didn’t want to hang out with black people and others.
Personal Story: decades ago I happened to ask out a Mexican woman at one of my workplaces. She said “No” because she was married. Not long after that, another guy that worked there who I found out was her brother approached me (apparently several family members worked at this same large hotel). I got along with all of them but I did not know that they were all related until this young man approached me and said: “I know you are a good man and not a (well-known six-letter derogatory term for gay people that begins with the letter “F”) because you asked out my sister. My family likes you.” As it turns out, this family had some…let’s say…”connections” to a certain element in that city. While they interacted with all of the employees, they mostly kept to themselves on breaks and such, but I did notice that anytime they were around me, every one of them was kind and friendly and shall we say, “not suspicious” of this clean cut young white man who they called their friend. But let’s say that one time, in my naivete, one of them had invited me to hang out with them at a party, and let’s say that these other connected people had been there. Let’s say that at some point, one of the connected people who happened to be a hot head got angry with me because I unwittingly happened to be standing too close his woman, or let’s say that his woman was flirting with me, and even though I didn’t respond, let’s say that he didn’t like her flirting with me anyway…OR…let’s say that I accidentally saw something that the connected people didn’t want me to see…OR…let’s say that some woman flirted with me and I didn’t respond in kind, so she got insulted and had somebody confront me and it accidentally turned deadly. Thankfully NONE of those things ever happened, but if I did happen to be a victim in that case, even though the family considered me to be their friend, does anyone honestly think that this family would have stood up to the “connected ones” to cooperate in an investigation, ESPECIALLY if they themselves may have had their own connections within the local police department? Does anybody here think that if such a crime had occurred against me, that the perps’ motivations would have been strictly racism? I don’t, and I don’t necessarily think that’s the case here. I simply believe that some clown who happened to be filled with liquid courage decided to do something really stupid, and the end result was this tragic death. I don’t know. I simply hope that justice will eventually be done.
I don’t believe this was “set up”. All 12 people would have been involved and at some point someone is going to come forward and leak the truth. Large groups of people aren’t exactly known for keeping these kinds of secrets. If this was a set up why did some of them go home? Why did they wait till the early hours to commit the crime? It just doesn’t make sense and if it doesn’t make sense it’s not usually true. I agree with you 100%. I think one (or more) of those men got touchy with her and she fought him (or they) and he/they fought her back causing her death then panicking he threw her body over the railing. The height of that upper deck to the ground would NOT have caused fractures. Bruises, possibly, but not fractures and severe trauma. My older brother (who is mentally ill) used to open the upstairs windows and push us out (when we were under the age of 10). Our house was fairly large and that second story window was further up then this deck and we never broke a single bone. Got a few bruises but never a fracture. Racism is certainly involved here, at least with the the investigators. I’m sure he just saw her as just another dead “black person”. I hope this cause gets re-examined and I hope her family stays persistent. Of course I could be wrong and they could have had devious plans, anything is possible these days.
Yeah, I think it was an “opportunity” gone bad. These people seem too damn dumb to commit the perfect crime, although some real dummies HAVE committed brazen crimes and almost gotten away with it; the infamous Brinks Robbery comes to mind here, but even in that case, as you pointed out, one BIG DUMB ASS couldn’t keep his mouth shut because he got greedy one week before the statute of limitations expired. Please see my most recent reply to Little Black Dog above.