On November 2018 in Forsyth, Georgia, Tamla Horsford attended an adults-only sleepover party and the next morning she was found dead in the backyard. Hosford was the only black person in attendance. Initially investigators thought Horsford died due to alcohol poisoning and it appeared that she had fallen off of the balcony. Recently law enforcement have closed the investigation and determined Horsford’s death to be accidental. It has been also revealed by toxicology reports that Horsford was highly intoxicated at the time of her death. Despite everything seeming to be cut and dried, somethings still amiss.
There were 7 females and 3 males that were also in attendance which is somewhat of a small group. It was stated by one of the attendees that they were all on the balcony drinking and everyone went back inside but, Horsford stayed out. They think she continued to drink and fell off of the balcony in the middle of the night. The fact that no one checked on her until the morning is a little perplexing. The medical examiner determined the cause of death to be multiple blunt force traumas. The traumas included a broken wrist and tramas to her head and torso and said to be consistent with the fall. This all appeared to check out until Horsford’s close friend began to ask questions.
Michelle Graves refused to believe that her friend died that way so she challenged the questionable story. Graves and the family even went as far as to hiring a different medical examiner. The new medical examiner discovered multiple external bruises that were not reported in the initial report. After seeing the picture of the balcony these injuries seem extremely unlikely. The balcony was not that high and it is not likely that she would’ve had external bruises unless, her body hit obstructions on her way to the ground. A picture of the balcony is included.
The story takes a bigger turn when Graves claimed that when she started questioning the truth of Horsford’s death, she was threatened and intimidated by the witnesses. One witness and party attendee stands out the most. Jose Barrera, whose girlfriend hosted the sleepover, was the one who found Horsford. Barrera used to be a pre-trial services officer who was placed on leave shortly after the investigation of Horsford’s death began. It was revealed that he accessed confidential files that were related to the case in which he was a witness in. Recently it has been speculated that Barrera used his position to access Graves’ personal information. If there was nothing to hide, why intimidate and essentially harass the only person asking questions?
This is especially heartbreaking when a healthy 40 year old mother of 5 is gone without a clear answer. It seems unlikely that Horsford sustained those injuries from the fall but if she did, the other attendees are still to be held accountable. It doesn’t add up for all adults to plan to spend time with each other but, one doesn’t return to the group and no one checks on them. Hopefully, the truth will come out and Horsford’s story is told.