ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office has charged a woman for allegedly taking evidence related to a recent homicide investigation.
While investigating the shooting death of 18-year-old Julius Tyrone Leak Jr., detectives executed a search warrant on Sunday, Feb. 6 at a home on Ellerbe Road in Rockingham, according to Chief Deputy Jay Childers.
Detectives reportedly learned during the investigation that 54-year-old Tina Louise Tilley, of Rockingham, had taken an item believed to be “of evidentiary value,” Childers said. No specifics were given on the item Tilley is accused of taking.
Tilley was arrested and charged with altering, destroying or stealing evidence. Records show Tilley was booked into the Richmond County Jail at 1:06 a.m. Monday, where she is being held under a $25,000 secured bond. She is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 17.
Online court records show Tilley has a Feb. 15 court appearance for failure to wear a seat belt. She has no previous convictions in the state, according to the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction.
Investigators have charged 23-year-old Thomas Owen White with an open count of murder in the case. He is accused of shooting Leak on Saturday in a gravel parking lot on Church Street in East Rockingham.
White was arrested Sunday afternoon following tips on his location, according to Sheriff Mark Gulledge.
Childers said the investigation is still on-going.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
