Tameka Skinner was a 39-year-old mother of two teenage daughters from Columbus, Georgia, remembered by her family as a joyful, humorous, and caring woman of God. A Black woman who loved to sing and dance at church, her uncle described her as a lovely person and a hardworking mother. Her family was already grieving the recent death of her father-in-law just ten days before Tameka’s own life was violently taken.
In the pre-dawn hours of July 27, 2020, Tameka and her boyfriend, Martae
Pettway, were attacked in the parking lot of the Huckleberry Hill Apartments in Columbus, where she was house-sitting. Her boyfriend was assaulted but left at the scene as assailants forced Tameka into her own car and drove away, sparking a multi-agency investigation that crossed state lines into Alabama.
Later that morning, deputies in Russell County, Alabama, were searching for Tameka’s stolen vehicle when they spotted a suspicious SUV. When they attempted to stop it, the driver fled, leading to a high-speed chase that ended when the SUV crashed in Wetumpka. The four people inside were taken into custody. Soon after, investigators found Tameka’s car, partially burned, in Seale, Alabama. A few hours later, they made a devastating discovery in a wooded area nearby: Tameka’s body. She had been shot to death.
The four individuals arrested after the chase were identified as Demetria Johnson, 30; Shaun Johnson, 40; Joshua Tolbert, 30; and Jayvonn Phillips, 23. Russell County Sheriff Heath Taylor stated that the motive appeared to be “old-fashioned jealousy.” Demetria Johnson was the ex-girlfriend of Tameka’s boyfriend and the mother of his children. Authorities said Johnson was incensed and had recruited the three men to help her kidnap and kill Tameka to “get her out of the way.”
All four suspects were charged with capital murder and kidnapping and were ordered to be held without bond. Years later, the case moved forward in the court system. According to the District Attorney’s office, one of the participants entered a guilty plea. In March 2025, the capital murder trial for Jayvon Phillips began. The prosecution claimed Phillips supplied the vehicle for the crime and told detectives where Tameka’s body could be found. As of that month, co-defendants Demetria Johnson and Joshua Tolbert were still awaiting their trials.
