LA GRANGE, Texas — A man has been found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility for a deadly shooting in La Grange nearly three years ago.
According to a press release from the Office of the Texas Attorney General, a jury found Charles Lee Tillman Jr. guilty of murder in Fayette County on April 19. The jury then assessed Tillman's sentence for a term of life in prison on April 22. He will be eligible for parole in 30 years.
On May 30, 2021, Tillman's daughter got into an argument with David Wayne Harrison Jr. She then contacted Tillman, who traveled from Glidden to La Grange, where he confronted Harrison at his home at the River Valley Apartments. Tillman then left and returned with a gun.
After confronting Harrison a second time, Tillman shot him three times and fled the area, according to the AG's office. A warrant was issued for his arrest on June 4.
Tillman remained on the run for five months before finally being arrested by the U.S. Marshals in November 2021.
The AG's office said at the time of the May shooting, Tillman was on parole for a narcotics case.
Though there were no eyewitnesses to Harrison's murder, the La Grange Police Department and the Texas Rangers were able to obtain surveillance footage from the apartment complex where it happened. The AG's office said Tillman could not be readily identified based off of the footage, but the video showed a car belonging to Tillman's girlfriend traveling back and forth between Tillman's daughter's home and the River Valley Apartments.
After the shooting, Tillman dropped the key fob to that vehicle at the scene, and it was picked up by a resident of the complex the following morning. The car was later located at a residence in Glidden.
The press release also said that during the investigation into Harrison's murder, law enforcement obtained phone records for a number associated with Tillman. Cell tower data showed Tillman traveled from Glidden to La Grange and back in the timeframe of Harrison's murder, and call log information showed Tillman was communicating with his daughter and her mother just prior to the murder.
