Gabriel Boykins

Witness Tyquavius ​​Church tested Thursday afternoon that a room in a house where mother/daughter murder victims often stayed was cleaned out shortly after Tamara and Aquarious Church vanished on May 17, 2020.

A second witness, LaGabrious Boykins, said the living room at the 1917B Foust Street
“smelled like death.”

Detective Zack Crawford said a large amount of blood was detected by using the Bluestar chemical agent in the living room of the house occupied by Gabriel Boykins.

When he examined the house in July 2020, he said the living room was mainly sparse except for an old-style large TV in one corner.

The state is seeking two first-degree murder convictions against Boykins in the courtroom of Judge Amanda Dunn.

The jury also heard from Glenn Bradley, property manager for Service Electric on 23rd Street near the former Food City site. He said around the time of the disappearance on a Monday morning he found a large pool of blood at the rear of a storage lot.

He said there were multiple blood sprinkles around the blood pool.

Mr. Bradley said he checked to make sure all employees were okay. It was not reported to the police.

Prosecutors earlier said the white Honda Odyssey van that Tamara Church had just bought two days earlier was caught on video going along 23rd Street the night of the disappearance.

Skulls of the two victims and scattered body parts were found on July 9, 2024, in a wooded area by a church off Greenwood Road. Tamara Church, who was 40, had been strangled and struck in the head with blood force. The child also had blunt force head injuries.

The van that Tamara Church had just bought was found burned near where the bodies were located.

Tyquavius ​​Church said she has known Boykins since she was four. She said, “He was my favorite person. I spent a lot of time with him.”

Asked why she liked him, she said, “He would always say yes.”

She said when she was 18 she got her a job at Pilgrim’s Pride, the “chicken plant” where she worked for a number of years. She said Boykins would get bonuses on Fridays and give her some of the money.

Asked to describe Aquarious, she said she was “silly, laughing, giggling, dancing, rapping with our brother and mother.”

Her mother, she said, “was my best friend. She was sweet, always smiling. She was smart. She taught me a lot. She was that person you need in your life every day.”

The witness added, “She loved her children and her grandma.” She said Tamara Church called each of them every day.

She said Boykins and her mother had broken up and were no longer romantically linked, but Tamara Church still often stayed with him, along with her young daughter.

She said when Boykins had to go into the hospital to have a pacemaker installed in his heart that Tamara Church agreed to come to the hospital and sign for him – making the procedure possible.

On May 17, 2020, a family barbeque was planned at her apartment at East Lake Courts, she said. Gabriel Boykins was due to attend and do the grilling.

That morning, Tamara Church came by her place briefly, driving her new van. She said she left to pick up supplies for the evening, but never returned.

Tyquavius ​​said she saw her mother at 1 or 2 that afternoon, but after that, “I kept calling and calling and got no answer.” She said she also did not hear from Boykins, and there was no cookout.

The witness said when she went over to the Boykins residence, she found the living room cleaned out. She said, “It was like they took all their stuff and left.”

She was at the Boykins home on May 29, 2024, when some police officers arrived, answering her call about the disappearance. An officer asked if her mother was “p—ed off” at anyone or gone off with a boyfriend. He said she might wait a while longer, or could choose the “ordeal” of getting an investigator on the case. Tyquavius ​​said she would wait a couple of days more to see if anything turned up.

Prosecutor Charles Minor told Tyquavius, “I’m going to apologize to you for the officers. They should have listened to you.”

While the officers were still there, Boykins arrived home. He said he had last seen Tamara and Aquarious two days earlier when they had gone out for sandwiches.

She said she did not hear from Boykins until a day or two after the disappearance, and he soon left town. She said he would not take her calls afterward. She said, “They’re missing and now he’s missing – like what’s going on?”

Tyquavius ​​said the next day a boyfriend of Tamara Church, Ulysses Bradley, called her. She said, “He was trying to figure out where she was.” She said he told her she was going to file a missing person report, and she joined him in that.

The tearful witness said, “Every day I tried for hours to call her, and I rode around looking for her van.” She said eventually the phone was disconnected. She said she put out fliers and posted on Facebook. She said she eventually had to quit her job due to the search. She said Ulysses Bradley gave her gas money for her trips around town.

Prosecutors said earlier Thursday they had been having trouble getting in touch with Tyquavius, and a material witness warrant had to be issued for her. She did appear near the close of the state’s evidence.

LaGabrious Boykins, son of Tamara Church, in a police interview had been asked who might have harmed his mother. He replied, “Ulysses.” Questioned by a prosecutor, he said he no longer feels that way.

He had also told the detective that Bradley sometimes “put his hands on her” and one time had said, “If you ever leave me, I’ll kill you.” That part was not allowed before the jury.