A sense of unease had followed Tatiana Willis-Riley throughout the day. Her ex-boyfriend, Carlos Dill, had been relentlessly calling and texting, his anger palpable through the phone. His fury stemmed from her decision to spend Thanksgiving with the family of her friend, Jonathan Lamar Stafford. The harassment had escalated to the point where Dill had shown up uninvited at her workplace and even tried to break into her home. That fear led the 24-year-old male, Jonathan Lamar Stafford, to walk her and her children to their apartment in southwest Atlanta in the early morning hours of November 26, 2021, a gesture of protection that would tragically be his last.
As they made their way through the parking lot of the Crystal Heights apartments on Boulder Park Drive, a figure emerged from the shadows. It was Carlos Dill, who had been lying in wait, concealed between the parked cars. In an act of what prosecutors would later call 'violent jealousy,' Dill approached the two, producing a handgun. While Willis-Riley begged him to stop, Dill held the gun to the back of Stafford's head and fired multiple times. The attack was swift and brutal, leaving Stafford with several gunshot wounds. He was rushed to a nearby hospital but ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
The investigation into Jonathan Stafford's death moved quickly, aided by high-definition surveillance footage that had captured the entire horrific event. Carlos Dill was identified as the gunman and was arrested later the same day. In June 2023, a jury found Dill guilty of the murder of Jonathan Stafford. He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 15 years. District Attorney Fani Willis stated that Dill was 'driven by violent jealousy' when he resorted to shooting his ex-partner's family friend at close range.
