In announcing the medical examiner’s findings on Feb. 20, 2019—accidental death resulting from a fall—and subsequently pronouncing the case closed, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office stated that they again extended their “deepest condolences to the family and friends of Mrs. Horsford during this tragic loss.”
Kurt St. Jour, Tamla’s father, told Magic 107.5 DJ Ryan Cameron in an interview just after the findings were released that the family had hired their own medical examiner, and they believed that Tamla was already dead when she went off the deck.
“Her injuries were not consistent with what they’re saying,” St. Jour said. “This is so fishy, I just don’t want it to get out of hand.”
Horsford’s friend Michelle Graves told Atlanta’s CBS 2 at the time, “They’re totally lying. They’re not out of the woods, because this was not an accident.” Graves was sued a week later by seven of the partygoers, including Meyers, who alleged in their lawsuit that Graves had caused “irreparable damage” to their reputations with 13 Facebook posts containing false statements that accused them of “committing murder and/or aiding and abetting the same, behaviors that are so repugnant, debased and immoral that it could exclude Plaintiffs from society.”
In response to the lawsuit, Graves told the Forsyth County News, “I state nothing but factual information which was verified after reading case file obtained through open records. I stand strong behind my statement that these people know what happened, and if they were not directly involved, they have not come forward with the truth.”
“This is nothing more than another intimidation tactic on their part,” she continued. “These people caused this negative attention by having a party where someone lost their life.”
Jose Barrera, meanwhile, was fired in December 2018 from his job as a pretrial services officer for—according to a Sheriff’s Office incident report filed in February 2019—allegedly using his position as a county employee to access documents related to the Horsford investigation and leak confidential information, including Graves’ address and cell phone number, to five people. Barrera insisted he didn’t look up anything illegally and whatever those people found was likely readily available to the public already.
“For her to believe that her information was leaked by me is grossly incorrect and I will believe that until the day I die,” Barrera told the Forsyth County News. “Anybody can be found.”
