GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas – Two teenagers now in custody for the murder of one of their grandmothers contacted several acquaintances and offered them money for help while on the run, before they ended up captured in the Texas border town of Laredo
17-year-old Tara King and her boyfriend, 18-year-old Uriah Urick, are charged with capital murder in connection to the death of Tammy King, the grandmother of Tara King. After killing her, they’re accused of stealing her purse, money, credit cards, cell phone, and firearms.
Investigators found Tammy King dead at her Bacliff home on Feb. 6. Court documents reveal she had a gunshot wound to the left side of her head.
New court documents obtained by KPRC 2 reveal the teens cut and dyed their hair together at a friend’s League City apartment two days after the murder as they were “desperately attempting to reach anyone and everyone they knew for assistance.”
What happened
According to the documents, a man who identified Tammy King as his “lover” called authorities after not being able to reach her. Deputies with the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the home on 15th Street in Bacliff, made entry, and found King dead in her bedroom.
A deputy who went inside the home said it appeared the home had been ransacked as Tammy King’s purse was found emptied on the living room floor, several gun safes were open and items from inside had been thrown on the floor. King’s body was also found with numerous sheets laid on top of her, according to the documents.
Detectives interviewed the man who had called authorities, who told them he had last seen Tammy on Tuesday night, two days before her body was found. He said he had last actually talked to her Wednesday morning. At the time, the man said Tammy had been arguing with her granddaughter, Tara, because she didn’t want to go to school. The man also told detectives that several guns that were normally inside the safes in King’s home appeared to have been stolen.
According to the court documents, detectives also found five CashApp transactions between Tammy King and Tara King in the amount of $500 on Wednesday, Feb. 5. Two other attempted transactions of $5,000 and $20,000 was also made, but those transactions failed.
Detectives also interviewed Uriah Urick’s mother, who told them that Tara King hated her grandmother and that Tammy King wouldn’t let Urick stay at their home overnight. She told detectives Tara King had recently made threatening and disturbing statements to her about her grandmother, stating that Tara King wanted Tammy King to die. She also told detectives she believed Urick was capable of murder.
According to the court documents, Urick and King asked several friends for rides in exchange for money. They had asked for rides to states up north, such as Illinois, Wyoming or Idaho.
When the rides didn’t work out, they paid one friend $500 to stay at his League City apartment for a couple nights, according to records, and he later told investigators that they appeared “very paranoid” before cutting and dying their hair. When detectives searched the apartment, they found three boxes of hair dye.
Tara King told one friend over Instagram that she ran away and would miss her, but the friend later sent her the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office Facebook post that showed her as a person of interest in the murder. Tara King replied, “Do not say s*** I’m begging you,” records show, but never directly answered a question about whether she killed Tammy King.
Later on, a woman called and told deputies that Tara King had admitted to her friend that she and Urick had killed Tammy King because they were angry at her while high on methamphetamine, according to the court documents.
While on the run, the teens tried to sell the stolen firearms, records show.
It’s not clear what led the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force to Laredo, more than 300 miles from Galveston, where they were arrested on Sunday.
Both Urick and King are being held in the Galveston County Jail without bond. They are expected to face a judge on Tuesday.