ST. LOUIS \u2013 U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Thursday sentenced a St. Louis man who killed a reality show star\u2019s nephew to 32 years in prison.<\/p>\n
Travell Anthony Hill, 31, pleaded guilty in June to one count of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and one count of murder-for-hire in the death of Andre Montgomery Jr. on March 14, 2016.<\/p>\n
In court Thursday, Hill re-affirmed what he\u2019d admitted in his plea agreement. He admitted meeting with Montgomery\u2019s uncle, James Timothy Norman, on the day of the murder. He admitted understanding that Norman wanted Montgomery killed, and that a woman would provide him Montgomery\u2019s location so he could commit the murder.<\/p>\n
Hill then obtained a .380-caliber handgun and fatally shot Montgomery, 21, at 3964 Natural Bridge Avenue in St. Louis after the woman lured Montgomery outside. Hill disposed of the gun and his phone and was paid $5,000 two days later.<\/p>\n
Hill testified at Norman\u2019s trial in September, before jurors convicted Norman, 43, of murder-for-hire and insurance fraud charges.<\/p>\n
In court Thursday, Montgomery\u2019s brother, Darren Griggs spoke of the effect of the murder on his family, saying, \u201cWe\u2019re not whole and we never will be again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Judge Ross called Hill\u2019s ambush of Montgomery \u201cincredibly cold and callous\u201d before stating Hill\u2019s sentence.<\/p>\n
Norman, of Jackson, Mississippi, is scheduled to be sentenced March 2.<\/p>\n
Norman and Montgomery appeared on the reality show Welcome to Sweetie Pie\u2019s. Norman arranged for his nephew\u2019s murder after fraudulently obtaining a life insurance policy worth $450,000 on Montgomery.<\/p>\n
Ellis and the insurance agent, and Waiel \u201cWally\u201d Rebhi Yaghnam, 44, both pleaded guilty on July 22. Ellis, an exotic dancer from Memphis, Tennessee who was paid $10,000 for locating Norman, pleaded guilty to the murder-for-hire conspiracy charge. Yaghnam pleaded guilty to a charge of wire and mail fraud conspiracy and admitted submitting five separate life insurance applications containing numerous false statements about Montgomery and then helping Norman file a claim.<\/p>\n
Yaghnam is scheduled to be sentenced November 1 and Ellis on January 10.<\/p>\n
DOJ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ST. LOUIS \u2013 U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Thursday sentenced a St. Louis man who killed a reality show star\u2019s nephew to 32 years in prison. Travell Anthony Hill, 31, pleaded guilty in June to one count of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and one count of murder-for-hire in the death of Andre Montgomery […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3507,"featured_media":179784,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[1,54],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n