Man accused of killing mother indicted for aggravated murder

Jamie George Tuck, 43, has been indicted on an aggravated murder charge in connection to the alleged fatal stabbing of his 66-year-old mother in June.

KEY POINTS

• Tuck said he was high on drugs when he killed Marilyn Burns
• He is in the Montgomery County Jail on a murder charge
• Police, on a welfare check, found Burns in the basement
• Tuck has served time in prison for attempted murder

UPDATE @2:17 p.m. 9/1/2015:

Tuck has been indicted by a Montgomery County grand jury on three counts of aggravated murder, two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of forgery, two counts of felonious assault and one count of misuse of credit card.

According to the Montgomery County Proscutor’s Office, Marilyn Burns was found dead in her home after she didn’t show up for work at the Oakwood library on June 9.

A family member went to check on her and found her deceased body in the basement.

Tuck was arrested June 10 after West Carrollton police responded to a restaurant on S. Alex Road in reference to a homicide suspect that wanted to turn himself in, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Tuck was on community control at the time of the crimes. He was convicted in 2002 in Franklin County for the kidnapping and attempted murder of his girlfriend. He was sentenced to 11 years, but was released early by a judge.

“This defendant has previously been convicted of other violent crimes, and spent a decade in prison for attempting to kill his former girlfriend,” said Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck in a release. “Now, the defendant brutally killed his own mother — a woman who was supportive of him, and gave him a place to live.”

Tuck will be arraigned later this week. He remains in the Montgomery County Jail on a $500,000 bond.

UPDATE @ 3:30 p.m. 6/11/2015:

Montgomery County Prosecutors met with Dayton police Thursday afternoon and approved additionally charges for Tuck in his mother’s death. The new charges include one count of forgery, two counts of felonious assault, two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of kidnapping and three counts of aggravated murder.

The charges will be presented to a grand jury in two weeks, officials said. Tuck continues to be held in the Montgomery County Jail without bond.

UPDATE @ 6:40 p.m.:

Tuck, who said he was high on crack cocaine when he killed his mother Tuesday night by slashing her neck, has served more than 10 years in prison for attempted murder against his partner. He apologized Wednesday morning after he was apprehended in the killing of Marilyn Burns.

“I’m sorry. I love my mom,” Tuck told News Center 7. “She’s the best woman in the world.”

Police found the woman’s body in her home Tuesday night and her SUV outside the West Carrollton BW3 before arresting Tuck, who remains in the Montgomery County Jail on a murder charge.

Tuck, as he was escorted to jail, said he wished he could change what happened. “I don’t know. I was out of my mind on crack.”

Burns’ death is the latest homicide in the region. From January through May 2015, there have been 16 homicides combined in Montgomery, Greene and Miami counties — down from 24 through the same time period in 2014. The 2015 number does not include Burns’ death and other homicides that have occurred in June.

“I knew immediately my brother has a violent tendencies,” said Michele Russo, Tuck’s sister, who described her mother as kind, gentle and giving. “Upon occasion he can be the kindest person ever, but at the drop of a hat at a quick moment he can snap to a completely different person.”

In 2002, Tuck was convicted in Franklin County of attempted murder and kidnapping involving a woman described as his fiancee and wife, according to court records.

Burns wrote in a letter to the judge, who granted Tuck a slightly early release, that she looked forward to Tuck living with her at her residence on Gunkel Avenue in Dayton.

“I love my son very much and will support him in every way possible during his time of transition back into society,” Burns wrote in June 2012. “I know that he is very remorseful for his past, and wants to be a positive role model in society going forward.”

Tuck was released from prison Nov. 5, 2012, about five months earlier than his scheduled release date of April 5, 2013. He learned carpentry and earned several occupational certifications from Hocking College while he was incarcerated.

A social media page that appears to belong to Tuck included a November 2013 post that read, in part: “I’d like for people to know me even though a lot of me is ugly, selfish, greedy, self-centered, oh I want, what I want, when I want it,” and I’m still not sure if my theme song is: ‘wayward son’ or ‘the only hell my momma ever raised’ but everyone including myself wants me to love and do good as much and as long as I can.”

Tuck grew up in Miamisburg, graduated and was a standout athlete at Valley View High School and played football Wilmington College.

Letters asking for his release from prison discuss Tuck’s substance abuse problems.

“The marriage was marred with the ugliness of drunken fights and stoned arguments,” Tuck’s public defender wrote in 2012. “Eventually, the inevitable happened, Jamie hurt (the woman), and hurt her badly.”

UPDATE @ 7:35 a.m.:

Police have located the SUV connected to a Dayton homicide at BW3s in West Carrollton and they say they have someone in custody.

Officers at the scene with the vehicle did not release any other details.

The license plate of the SUV matches the one police said they were searching for connected to the fatal stabbing.

UPDATE @ 4:50 a.m.:

The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office has identified the victim of the stabbing as Marilyn A. Burns, 66, of Dayton. The office adds she was a resident of the address she was killed in.

UPDATE @ 12:10 a.m. (June 10): Police have identified 43-year-old Jamie George Tuck as a possible suspect in the stabbing of a female at a residence in the 400 block of Gunckel Avenue, Dayton Sgt. William Gross said.

Police found the victim in the residence after they were dispatched to the address on a check welfare call. A Montgomery County coroner’s investigator declined to release the victim’s name, pending the notification of relatives who live outside Ohio. He confirmed only that the victim is a female.

Gross said Tuck — described as 6 feet tall, 215 pounds with blond hair and blue eyes — is believed to have taken the victim’s bronze 2006 Ford Escape, bearing license plate FKT 1876.

Gross said the police department is asking people to call 911 if they see Tuck or know of his whereabouts. Citizens are not to approach Tuck or the vehicle if they see him or it, the sergeant said.

UPDATE @ 10:20 p.m.: A Montgomery County coroner's investigator, Dayton homicide detectives and a police department evidence crew are all on the scene of the slaying on Gunckel Avenue.

FIRST REPORT (June 9)

Police and a rescue unit have been sent to a report of a fatal stabbing in the 400 block of Gunckel Avenue.

We’re told the victim is in the basement and the assailant has left in the victim’s vehicle, believed to be a Ford Escape.

Crews were dispatched just before 9 p.m.

The suspect is said to be a white male in this 40s.

Police have put up crime scene around the entire block, from Volkenand Avenue nearly to Wayne Avenue.

We have a crew on scene and we will update this report as we get more information.