One of multiple people charged in a murder-for-hire conspiracy plot to kill Andre Montgomery Jr., grandson of the owner of the Sweetie Pie’s restaurants, pleaded guilty to criminal charges Friday in federal court.
Travell Hill pleaded guilty to two charges, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and murder for hire, in the death of Montgomery.
Investigators say Montgomery was shot and killed on the evening of March 14, 2016, in the 3900 block of Natural Bridge Road in St. Louis, Missouri.
Co-defendant James Timothy Norman, Montgomery’s uncle who operated his own Sweetie Pie’s in Jackson, Mississippi, is also accused in the investigation. Federal prosecutors allege that Norman took out a $450,000 life insurance policy in 2014 on his nephew, Andre Montgomery Jr. with Norman named as the sole beneficiary.
According to court documents, in March 2016, Norman contacted and communicated with Ellis, an exotic dancer living in Memphis, Tennessee, who told Norman via cellphone she would be in St. Louis. On the day prior to Montgomery’s death, Norman flew to St. Louis from the Los Angeles area.
Once in St. Louis, prosecutors say both Norman and Ellis communicated with each other via burner phones. Ellis also used the phone to learn Montgomery’s location and then called Hill and Norman. According to court documents, Hill found Montgomery’s location, walked up to him and shot him multiple times. Hill later accepted a payment after the death of Montgomery, per court records.
In August 2020, Norman and Ellis were arrested and charged with murder-for-hire conspiracy. Norman pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in the case in 2020.
According to court documents, both counts Hill pleaded guilty to could mean a mandatory life in prison sentence. A sentencing hearing in the case is expected in September.
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