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2016-06-20 Telford

#offense/murder/capital #event/complaint #event/indictment #event/fugitive #location/apartments/PlumCreek #street/Plum-Creek-Dr/5900 #people/T/Telford/Charlesetta #people/R/Richards/Anthony-Dwion #people/B/Black/Jessica-Lynn #people/I/Ivy/Billy-Glen

Murder of Charlesetta Telford and her unborn child

Charlesetta Marie Telford, 38, and her unborn child were shot and killed at the Plum Creek Apartments in Amarillo on June 20, 2016. The case went unsolved for over a year and a half before Anthony Dwion Richards was charged with capital murder in February 2018. A second suspect, Jessica Lynn Black, was later charged as well. The case subsequently intersected with a separate, sprawling murder-for-hire investigation involving Billy Glenn Ivy Jr., who was also charged in Telford's death before he died in jail in 2020.

The shooting

Source: KFDA

On the evening of Monday, June 20, 2016, Amarillo police were sent to 5900 Plum Creek Drive on a report of a shooting, with a victim down at the apartment complex. Officers found Telford suffering from several gunshot wounds; she was taken to a local hospital, where she died. Lieutenant Erick Bohannon indicated a possible pregnancy at the scene, though only an autopsy could confirm it. Justice of the Peace Gary Jackson ordered an autopsy to be performed in Lubbock.

Multiple SWAT officers and a Texas DPS surveillance helicopter searched the area around the apartment complex for hours, looking for a suspect described only as a "slim black male." No suspect was located that night, and the Special Crimes Unit took over the investigation.

Arrest of Anthony Dwion Richards

The case remained unsolved for roughly a year and a half. On February 12, 2018, the Amarillo Police Department's Special Crimes Unit obtained an arrest warrant for 31-year-old Anthony Dwion Richards, charging him with capital murder in the deaths of Telford and her unborn child. Potter County District Attorney Randall Sims explained he chose to file a single capital murder charge — rather than two separate murder charges — because investigators determined the same bullet that struck Telford also killed the fetus. Richards was booked into the Potter County Correction Center on $500,000 bond.

Cpl. Jeb Hilton of APD said the Special Crimes Unit had worked the case for a long time with limited leads: "With not a very good description and not a lot of evidence to go off on, sometimes it takes a little bit longer... There's never really a set time frame on solving a case."

Criminal complaint details

According to the criminal complaint, Richards had first come to police attention nearly two months before Telford's murder: on April 30, 2016, he admitted to firing a 9mm handgun during an argument with his girlfriend, Jessica Black. Cartridge casings recovered from that incident were sent to the Texas Department of Public Safety Laboratory and matched — via the same firearm — casings recovered from the Telford murder scene.

Investigators also cited an eyewitness at the Plum Creek Apartments who reported seeing a Black man matching Richards's description driving a dark-colored SUV away from the scene shortly after the shots that killed Telford were fired. Additionally, a cellphone belonging to Black was found to have pinged off the cell tower covering the Plum Creek Apartments during the time of the murder.

Second suspect: Jessica Lynn Black

Investigators subsequently sought a second suspect. On July 26, 2018, APD obtained a capital-murder-of-multiple-persons warrant for Jessica Lynn Black, 37, and Amarillo Crime Stoppers offered a reward for information on her location; she was described as 5 feet 2 inches tall, 187 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. Black was arrested about a week later, in early August 2018, in the 2600 block of South Bowie Street.

In August 2021, a Potter County grand jury formally indicted Black, then 40, on the capital murder charge for Telford's death and that of her unborn child.

Intersection with the Billy Glenn Ivy Jr. case

Separately, Amarillo investigators had for years been building a much larger case against Billy Glenn Ivy Jr., tied to an alleged multi-year murder-for-hire and arson scheme dating back to 2014, as well as the 2016–17 disappearance of Nicole Moore. During that broader investigation, detectives developed information suggesting Ivy — who investigators believed may have been the father of Telford's unborn child — was connected to her killing as well.

In May 2020, after Ivy returned to Potter County custody following a federal weapons sentence, APD arrested him on a charge of Capital Murder by Remuneration for the shooting deaths of Telford and her unborn child, in addition to a separate capital murder charge for Nicole Moore's death. Prosecutors announced they would seek the death penalty against him. Ivy died in the Potter County Jail on September 16, 2020, before either case went to trial; his death was reported to Sheriff Brian Thomas and an autopsy was ordered. The day after his death, APD alleged Ivy had continued attempting to arrange murders-for-hire from behind bars using a contraband cellphone.

People

Timeline

Date Event
April 30, 2016 Richards fires a 9mm handgun during an argument with girlfriend Jessica Black; casing later matched to Telford murder weapon
Monday, June 20, 2016 Telford shot at Plum Creek Apartments; dies at hospital; no suspect found despite SWAT/DPS search
Feb. 12, 2018 Richards arrested and charged with capital murder; booked on $500,000 bond
July 26, 2018 Capital murder warrant issued for Jessica Black as a second suspect
Early Aug. 2018 Black arrested in the 2600 block of South Bowie Street
May 4, 2020 Billy Glenn Ivy Jr. charged separately with Capital Murder by Remuneration in Telford's death (and a separate capital murder charge for Nicole Moore)
Sept. 16, 2020 Ivy dies in Potter County Jail before trial
Aug. 2, 2021 Jessica Black formally indicted for capital murder in Telford's death

Sources