Tennessee – In a devastating case in Tennessee that caught nationwide attention, a 50-year-old man, identified as Gabriel B., has been sentenced to 45 years in prison for the deaths of a 40-year-old mother, identified as Tamara C., and her 8-year-old daughter, identified as Aquarious C., whose bodies were found after a months-long search—the mother strangled to death and the child’s skull crushed. Gabriel was convicted in June of two counts of second-degree murder in the horrific case. On Thursday, a judge handed down the maximum allowable punishment for the two crimes—20 years for Tamara’s death and 25 years for Aquarious’s, to be served consecutively.
Though Gabriel maintained his innocence in court, the evidence presented over a harrowing trial painted a picture of calculated, lethal violence against two people who should have been safe in his presence. The case began unfolding on May 19, 2020, when Tamara and her daughter were reported missing. Just a day earlier, Tamara’s 2004 Honda Odyssey was found set on fire. Authorities immediately suspected foul play, but the case would drag on in agony for more than 50 days before any real answers emerged.
Investigators eventually used cell phone location data to narrow down Tamara’s last known whereabouts. In late July 2020, they located the remains of both mother and daughter in a wooded area near a large cemetery. The passage of time had destroyed much of the physical evidence, but what remained was enough to reconstruct a deeply disturbing scene. Tamara’s neck showed signs of broken bones consistent with strangulation, and she had suffered blunt force trauma to her face. The child’s injuries were even more brutal, as the judge said, “the back of her skull was in pieces,” describing a level of violence that suggested her head had been stomped or crushed
Surveillance footage captured a man resembling Gabriel walking away from the burning van and toward the direction of his duplex, where authorities later found a large pool of blood that had been washed away. Early in the investigation, police also located one of Tamara’s other daughters alive—in the care of Gabriel, raising further questions about the relationship and what had transpired inside that home.
Gabriel and Tamara had reportedly been previously involved in a romantic relationship, though prosecutors never fully clarified a motive. However, the judge referenced past abuse and arguments between the two during sentencing. The state’s first attempt to convict Gabriel in November 2024 ended in a hung jury, with jurors only agreeing on a tampering with evidence charge. But the retrial brought more clarity and ultimately led to the double murder conviction.
The judge acknowledged the limitations of the sentence: no punishment could bring back the two lives lost. But she also made clear that the message from the jury—and from the court—was that such cruelty would be met with accountability. “I know you loved your family very, very much,” she told the grieving relatives in court. Gabriel, who has 44 prior cases on record dating back to 1995, will now spend the majority of the rest of his life behind bars. While justice has been served on paper, the physical and emotional violence he inflicted will forever haunt the lives of those who survived it—and the memory of those who did not.
