On the evening of October 24, 2007, 37-year-old Julius Charles Whaley was found dead on the bedroom floor of his Greenbelt, Maryland, apartment from a single gunshot wound to the chest. Police and paramedics responded to a 911 call placed by his girlfriend, Tania Wallace-Bey, who initially told authorities she had shot him in self-defense after an alleged assault.

Prosecutors presented evidence they said showed the killing was premeditated: Wallace-Bey had traveled from Philadelphia to stay with Whaley for several days, left an envelope labeled last will and testament with her mother, and distributed personal items in gift bags before the incident. The prosecution’s timeline states the shooting occurred on the night of October 23, 2007; afterwards Wallace-Bey bought sleeping pills, ingested them with grain alcohol, lay beside Whaley’s body, and later wrote an apology letter before calling 911.

A jury convicted Wallace-Bey of first-degree murder and use of a handgun in 2009, and she was sentenced to life plus 20 years. A post-conviction court later granted a new trial after counsel raised ineffective-assistance claims and evidence that she suffered battered spouse syndrome; the case was retried in March 2016. Does anyone have further information about Whaley’s life or the relationship that preceded this killing?