GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas (UBM) While they were on the run, two teens who are now in custody for the murder of one of their grandmothers reached out to various contacts and offered them money for assistance. They were eventually caught in the Texas border town of Laredo.
17 years old Tara King and her boyfriend, Uriah Urick, who is 18 years old, are facing capital murder charges in connection with the death of Tammy King, who is Tara King’s grandmother. They are accused of stealing her pocketbook, money, credit cards, cell phone, and guns after they kill her.
On February 6, investigators discovered the body of Tammy King at her house in Bacliff. According to court documents, she was shot in the left side of her skull.
KPRC 2 has acquired new court documents that show that two days after the murder, the teenagers went to a friend’s apartment in League City, where they chopped and dyed their hair together as they were “desperately attempting to reach anyone and everyone they knew for assistance.”
What occurred?
A man who called the authorities after being unable to contact Tammy King said that she was his “lover,” according to the documents. King was found dead in her bedroom by deputies from the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office, who arrived at her home on 15th Street in Bacliff and entered the premises.
Tammy King’s purse was discovered emptied on the floor of the living room, and numerous gun safes were unlocked with their contents scattered on the floor. A deputy who entered the house stated that it looked like the house had been looted. The documents state that King’s body was discovered with a number of sheets placed on top of her.
The detectives interviewed the man who had phoned the authorities. He informed them that he had seen Tammy for the last time on Tuesday night, two days before her body was discovered. He claimed that the last time he had a conversation with her was Wednesday morning. The man claimed that Tammy had been battling with her granddaughter, Tara, because Tara did not want to go to school. The individual also informed the cops that a number of firearms that were typically stored in the safes located in King’s residence seemed to have been taken.
The court records state that police discovered five CashApp transactions between Tammy King and Tara King on Wednesday, February 5. Each transaction was for $500. There were apparently two further attempts to make transfers for $5,000 and $20,000, but those transactions were unsuccessful.
Detectives also spoke with Uriah Urick’s mother, who told them that Tara King loathed her grandmother and that Tammy King would not allow Urick to spend the night at their house. She informed the police that Tara King had recently made threatening and unsettling comments to her regarding her grandma, saying that Tara King wanted Tammy King to die. She also informed the cops that she thought Urick was capable of committing murder.
Urick and King requested rides from a number of friends in return for payment, as stated in the court filings. They requested transportation to states located in the northern part of the country, including Illinois, Wyoming, and Idaho.
According to records, they paid one acquaintance $500 to stay at his League City apartment for a couple of nights when the rides didn’t work out. He later told detectives that they seemed “very paranoid” before they cut and dyed their hair. Three boxes of hair dye were discovered by detectives when they investigated the residence.
Tara King told one of her friends on Instagram that she had run away and would miss her, but the friend later gave her a Facebook post from the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office that showed her as a person of interest in the murder. According to the documents, Tara King said, “Do not say s*** I’m begging you,” but she never directly answered the issue of whether she killed Tammy King.
According to the court filings, a woman contacted later and informed the deputies that Tara King had confessed to her friend that she and Urick had killed Tammy King because they were upset with her while under the influence of methamphetamine.
According to the records, the teenagers attempted to sell the firearms that they had taken while they were on the run.
It is unclear why the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force traveled to Laredo, which is over 300 miles away from Galveston, where they were arrested on Sunday.
Urick and King are both being held in the Galveston County Jail without the option of posting bail. On Tuesday, they are anticipated to appear in front of a judge.
