Man who fatally shot ‘Sweetie Pie’s’ reality TV star sentenced to 32 years
Travell Anthony Hill pleaded guilty in June to conspiring with James "Tim" Norman in March 2016 to kill 21-year-old Andre Montgomery; Montgomery was Norman's nephew.
The man who shot and killed a St. Louis reality TV star who appeared on OWN’s “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s” was sentenced to 32 years in prison.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Travell Anthony Hill, 31, was given the sentence for two counts of murder-for-hire in the death of 21-year-old Andre Montgomery Jr. Hill pleaded guilty in June to conspiring with James “Tim” Norman in March 2016 to kill Montgomery. Montgomery was Norman’s nephew.
Montgomery and Norman both appeared in “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s,” which centered on the St. Louis-area soul food restaurant run by their family.
“I’ve been dead inside since the day of the murder,” Hill said during his hearing on Thursday, Oct. 20, according to the Post-Dispatch. “I apologize to everyone in court.”
Norman reportedly gave a friend instructions to provide Hill with $5,000 in cash after the murder, as he was the sole beneficiary of an insurance policy worth up to $450,000 against his nephew’s life.
“How can you sleep?” Montgomery’s sister, Kalyn Griggs, asked Hill, the Post-Dispatch reported. “Was the $5,000 worth it?”
During the hearing, Hill said two of his brothers were killed in shootings the same year he shot Montgomery. He claimed that he killed Montgomery to defend himself, not for the money. He also said he hasn’t been able to meet his 1-year-old son in person because he has been incarcerated.
Though the charges call for life in prison, Hill’s defense lawyer Peter Cohen and prosecutors Angie Danis and Gwendolyn Carroll asked for a 30-year sentence, given Hill’s cooperation with law enforcement.
Last month, a jury found Norman guilty of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, theGrio previously reported.
Terica Ellis, another conspirator, also entered a guilty plea for conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire in July. She admitted that on the night of the murder, she told Hill where Montgomery was before luring the victim outside. Both Hill and Ellis testified at Norman’s trial.
Prosecutors said Norman paid Ellis, an exotic dancer, $10,000 for her role in the killing.
“This plan doesn’t exist but for Tim Norman’s greed,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Angie Danis said during his trial in September, according to theGrio.
Ellis’ sentencing hearing is in January and Norman’s in March, the Post-Dispatch reported.
Judge John Ross stated on Thursday that Hill’s statements regarding the murders of his brothers made his actions even more disturbing.
“You understood the pain that those things cause, yet you did that to Andre,” Judge Ross said, the Post-Dispatch reported.
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