James Steven Tillman was 46 and a lifelong Jasper County, Georgia resident who worked as a truck driver for Werner Enterprise. He and his wife Reneé had been married twenty-six years and often hiked with their children. On the evening of March 23, 2022, deputies found Tillman deceased at his Monticello home on Tanager Court. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was asked to assist and an autopsy was scheduled at the GBI Crime Lab.

According to the GBI, an argument in the home escalated when Tillman broke into a room and was shot by a family member. The investigation focused on his 18-year-old son, Steven Chase Tillman, after evidence suggested a confrontation between father and son led to the fatal shooting. In February 2023 a Jasper County Grand Jury returned an indictment charging the younger Tillman with felony murder, voluntary manslaughter, and aggravated assault; the grand jury did not pursue malice murder.

If anyone knew James Tillman or has information about what happened that night, please share what you know.