Woman sentenced for her role in ‘Sweetie Pie’ star’s death
By The Associated Press on January 24, 2023.
ST. LOUIS (AP) – A woman who lured a former star of a St. Louis-based reality TV show to a spot where he was killed was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison. Terica Ellis, 39, was sentenced for conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire in the March 2016 death of 21-year-old Andrew Montgomery Jr. Montgomery’s uncle, James “Tim” Norman, was convicted in September of hiring another man to kill Montgomery. Montgomery and Norman starred on “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s,” a long-running OWN reality show about a family soul food business in the St. Louis area owned by Robbie Montgomery, Norman’s mother and the victim’s grandmother. Ellis pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire. She admitted she lured Montgomery to a street the night of the killing and gave his location to the killer, Travell Anthony Hill. Norman was the sole beneficiary of a $450,000 life insurance policy taken out against his nephew’s life and paid Ellis about $10,000 for her role in the plot. She testified she thought Norman wanted to confront his nephew about a burglary and didn’t know he hired Hill to shoot Montgomery. Norman was convicted in September of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, among other charges. He is scheduled to be sentenced in March. Hill pleaded guilty and was sentenced in October to 32 years in prison on two murder-for-hire charges. 10-9
