A Tennessee man will spend the rest of his life behind bars after being sentenced to 45 years for the brutal killings of his ex-girlfriend and her young daughter, a case that has haunted Hamilton County for more than four years.
On Thursday, Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Amanda Dunn imposed consecutive prison terms on Gabriel Fitzgerald Boykins, 50, following his conviction in June on two counts of second-degree murder. Boykins received 20 years for the death of Tamara Church, 40, and 25 years for the killing of her daughter, Aquarious Church, 8.
“Is there any greater cruelty than a child watching her mother be hurt or a mother watching her child be hurt?” Judge Dunn asked during the sentencing. “One of them watched the other die.”
Tamara and her daughter were reported missing on May 19, 2020, just one day after her 2004 Honda Odyssey was found burning in Chattanooga’s Ferger Place neighborhood.
The search stretched on for 51 agonizing days before investigators discovered their remains in a wooded area along Greenwood Road, near a cemetery. Authorities used cellphone data to trace the mother’s last known location. By then, decomposition had destroyed much of the forensic evidence, but investigators determined that Tamara died from strangulation and blunt force trauma. Aquarious, the judge noted, had her skull “in pieces,” likely from being stomped or crushed.
Prosecutors linked Boykins to the crimes through surveillance footage showing a man with his build leaving the scene of the burning vehicle and walking toward his duplex. Police also discovered a large amount of blood that appeared to have been cleaned from the property.
Boykins, who had a prior relationship with Tamara and a history of alleged abuse, was also found in July 2020 with another of her young daughters alive in his custody.
Although his first trial in November 2024 ended with a hung jury that only convicted him of evidence tampering, the second trial led to murder convictions.
The brutality of the case has shaken Chattanooga and devastated the Church family. Judge Dunn acknowledged the limitations of the justice system, telling relatives that no sentence could undo their loss: “I know you loved your family very, very much.”
Court records show Boykins has faced 44 prior cases in Tennessee dating back to 1995.
Boykins maintained his innocence at sentencing, showing no emotion as the punishment was announced.
