On November 7, 2015, Tiffany Bailey was murdered by her live-in boyfriend, Deunta Grier, also known as Deuntay Grier. Atlanta investigators were called to Apt. 4 on Cleveland Avenue at the Pavilion Place Apartments in Southwest Atlanta, Georgia. When they arrived, the door was ajar, a baby was on the couch, and Tiffany Bailey was lying face-up on the kitchen floor. Paramedics noted that the victim was still alive but unresponsive. Tiffany Bailey’s other children were also inside the home, along with her live-in boyfriend, Deunta “Gunz” Grier, 25.
Investigators observed her boyfriend, Deunta Grier (Deuntay Grier), pacing back and forth frantically as he talked to someone on the phone. When police asked him what happened, his story was that two guys had knocked on his front door and shot at them. One of the guys, he said, was a light-skinned teen with freckles and a blonde patch in his hair. According to Deunta, when he saw the shooter raising the gun, he ducked or stepped out of the way, and the bullet struck Tiffany. After attempts to revive Tiffany Bailey were unsuccessful, she was rushed to the hospital, where she died on November 9, 2015, two days after the shooting.
Deunta Grier said he didn’t know who the shooter was, but that a person named “Lil” Quinn would know his name. Police records show that Quinn’s real name was Quintan Walker. Police questioned him, but he said he didn’t know who killed Tiffany. He led investigators to 13-year-old Antaeus Nelson, aka “Tay Red,” the only person he knew with blonde hair. Police checked him out, but Antaeus Nelson had an alibi.
The autopsy report showed that Tiffany Bailey, known as ‘Tip,’ was in a scuffle before she was shot. There was some bruising on the body, blood around the fingernails, and a horseshoe-shaped crescent indentation on her arm. Someone had also ripped the freshly done hair extensions from her head.
When asked about the hair extensions, Deunta told investigators the following:
“Oh yeah, she pulled her hair out. She pulled her weave out all the time immediately after she had her hair done.”
Tiffany Bailey’s family told investigators that was untrue. At the crime scene, police located part of her hair extensions on the sofa, and the earrings, which had been in her ears, were strewn between the sofa and the floor. Detectives also found plastic sandwich bags and small scales on a table. A suitcase packed with men’s clothing lay in the middle of the kitchen floor.
Family members told investigators that Tiffany Bailey wanted Deunta Grier out of her home and out of her life. To detectives, this made sense. To get more information, they began canvassing the neighborhood to see if anyone had heard anything. The apartment complex’s property manager, Regina Brettnacher, gave them her strongest leads. According to Regina, Tiffany Bailey, a former waitress and cashier at Firehouse Subs, argued with Deunta Grier daily. The arguments were so loud that the property manager spoke to Tiffany about it several times.
Regina said she warned Tiffany that Deunta Grier wasn’t allowed to live in her apartment and that if he didn’t leave, she would lose her income-based housing. Tiffany Bailey was not having that. She had worked too hard to lose her housing.
Just before the shooting, she told Deunta that he had to go. Her life was spiraling out of control, and she had lost control of her own home. Another woman, a supposed friend but rumored to be Deunta’s side lover, was always at the house starting trouble. There were also other friends living in the complex who were always there. The situation got so bad that Tiffany Bailey left her own apartment just to give Deunta time to get out. She no longer wanted her children in that environment.
Regina offered police several other important pieces of information. She said after Tiffany Bailey was gunned down, she saw Deunta Grier behind what they referred to as the fence line, a patch of land near the apartment that was filled with trash and other debris. It looked as if Deunta was searching for something back there. She found it odd and made a mental note.
Then Atlanta detectives learned that Regina’s assistant, Chaucella Jackson, who was out collecting the rent just minutes before the shooting, was so close to Tiffany Bailey’s apartment that she heard the gunshot and ran inside the apartment before paramedics arrived.
The woman called Regina and told her everything that was going on in the house. She said she could see Tiffany Bailey on the floor and that Tiffany’s child, Ja’Myah told her, “Daddy shot Mommy," according to 11 Alive. Regina also told the cops that one of her property workers, a man named Isaac “Dollar” Turner, stated that Deunta confessed to killing his girlfriend after they argued about his career as a drug dealer.
Turner said that after Deunta shot the mother of his children, he got rid of the gun by throwing it over the fence line, then returned to the apartment and staged the scene to look like a drug robbery gone bad. That was explosive information for investigators, but “Dollar” was not entirely reliable. He also had a criminal record.
Social services conducted an interview with Tiffany Bailey’s children: Ja’Myah Ford, age five, and a younger child named Akeera. The interview revealed that Ja’Myah was in bed with Akeera when loud arguing jolted them awake. Ja’Myah stumbled into the living room and saw Tiffany and Deunta in a physical altercation. She said Tiffany pushed Deunta out of the chair, then Deunta reached inside the sofa, pulled out a gun, and shot “mommy” in the face. Social services noted in the records that even though Ja’Myah was brave and strong, having to discuss the details of her mother’s murder troubled her. She told part of the story as she sat in a fetal position.
At Tiffany Bailey’s funeral, her children wore T-shirts that read, “Somewhere in heaven my mommy is smiling – RIP mommy,” CBS-46 reported. Someone else showed up to the funeral that day—Deunta Grier. Grier told an off-duty police officer he needed to talk. Officers transported him to the station, but when Grier arrived, he denied everything.
In early reports, it was said that gunshots rang out during Tiffany Bailey’s funeral. However, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution later reported that shots were fired near the church shortly after Deunta Grier left in a police car. Those who had seen Deunta at the funeral believed he had fired the shots. In the end, police said the shooting was between two groups. Each blamed the other for Tiffany’s death.
The murder of Tiffany Bailey is a cautionary tale. When she first met Deunta Grier, she was looking for love and financial stability. Deunta helped her financially and treated her oldest child like his own. She loved that about him.
Although Tiffany knew Deunta had a criminal record, she was willing to give him a second chance. However, his promises of a wholesome family life never came true. Instead, he settled back into his old ways, and Tiffany Bailey’s life spiraled downward until he finally killed her. Today, Deunta Akeem Grier is serving a life sentence plus 15 years in a Georgia correctional facility for the murder of Tiffany Bailey and a firearm offense.
Editor’s Note and Update: In 2022, Deunta Grier’s case went before the Georgia Supreme Court. Grier appealed his convictions, but on February 15, 2022, the court upheld them. His convictions and sentence remained in place.
For research and discovery purposes, both spellings of Deunta Grier/Deuntay Grier’s name are used. Tiffany Bailey's case was dramatized in TV One's true crime series Fatal Attraction on January 29, 2018, in the episode titled An Unlikely Witness (season 7 episode 9).
Investigators observed her boyfriend, Deunta Grier (Deuntay Grier), pacing back and forth frantically as he talked to someone on the phone. When police asked him what happened, his story was that two guys had knocked on his front door and shot at them. One of the guys, he said, was a light-skinned teen with freckles and a blonde patch in his hair. According to Deunta, when he saw the shooter raising the gun, he ducked or stepped out of the way, and the bullet struck Tiffany. After attempts to revive Tiffany Bailey were unsuccessful, she was rushed to the hospital, where she died on November 9, 2015, two days after the shooting.
Deunta Grier said he didn’t know who the shooter was, but that a person named “Lil” Quinn would know his name. Police records show that Quinn’s real name was Quintan Walker. Police questioned him, but he said he didn’t know who killed Tiffany. He led investigators to 13-year-old Antaeus Nelson, aka “Tay Red,” the only person he knew with blonde hair. Police checked him out, but Antaeus Nelson had an alibi.
Tiffany L. Bailey
The autopsy report showed that Tiffany Bailey, known as ‘Tip,’ was in a scuffle before she was shot. There was some bruising on the body, blood around the fingernails, and a horseshoe-shaped crescent indentation on her arm. Someone had also ripped the freshly done hair extensions from her head.
When asked about the hair extensions, Deunta told investigators the following:
“Oh yeah, she pulled her hair out. She pulled her weave out all the time immediately after she had her hair done.”
Tiffany Bailey’s family told investigators that was untrue. At the crime scene, police located part of her hair extensions on the sofa, and the earrings, which had been in her ears, were strewn between the sofa and the floor. Detectives also found plastic sandwich bags and small scales on a table. A suitcase packed with men’s clothing lay in the middle of the kitchen floor.
Family members told investigators that Tiffany Bailey wanted Deunta Grier out of her home and out of her life. To detectives, this made sense. To get more information, they began canvassing the neighborhood to see if anyone had heard anything. The apartment complex’s property manager, Regina Brettnacher, gave them her strongest leads. According to Regina, Tiffany Bailey, a former waitress and cashier at Firehouse Subs, argued with Deunta Grier daily. The arguments were so loud that the property manager spoke to Tiffany about it several times.
Regina said she warned Tiffany that Deunta Grier wasn’t allowed to live in her apartment and that if he didn’t leave, she would lose her income-based housing. Tiffany Bailey was not having that. She had worked too hard to lose her housing.
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| Tiffany Bailey and her children |
Just before the shooting, she told Deunta that he had to go. Her life was spiraling out of control, and she had lost control of her own home. Another woman, a supposed friend but rumored to be Deunta’s side lover, was always at the house starting trouble. There were also other friends living in the complex who were always there. The situation got so bad that Tiffany Bailey left her own apartment just to give Deunta time to get out. She no longer wanted her children in that environment.
Regina offered police several other important pieces of information. She said after Tiffany Bailey was gunned down, she saw Deunta Grier behind what they referred to as the fence line, a patch of land near the apartment that was filled with trash and other debris. It looked as if Deunta was searching for something back there. She found it odd and made a mental note.
Then Atlanta detectives learned that Regina’s assistant, Chaucella Jackson, who was out collecting the rent just minutes before the shooting, was so close to Tiffany Bailey’s apartment that she heard the gunshot and ran inside the apartment before paramedics arrived.
The woman called Regina and told her everything that was going on in the house. She said she could see Tiffany Bailey on the floor and that Tiffany’s child, Ja’Myah told her, “Daddy shot Mommy," according to 11 Alive. Regina also told the cops that one of her property workers, a man named Isaac “Dollar” Turner, stated that Deunta confessed to killing his girlfriend after they argued about his career as a drug dealer.
Turner said that after Deunta shot the mother of his children, he got rid of the gun by throwing it over the fence line, then returned to the apartment and staged the scene to look like a drug robbery gone bad. That was explosive information for investigators, but “Dollar” was not entirely reliable. He also had a criminal record.
Social services conducted an interview with Tiffany Bailey’s children: Ja’Myah Ford, age five, and a younger child named Akeera. The interview revealed that Ja’Myah was in bed with Akeera when loud arguing jolted them awake. Ja’Myah stumbled into the living room and saw Tiffany and Deunta in a physical altercation. She said Tiffany pushed Deunta out of the chair, then Deunta reached inside the sofa, pulled out a gun, and shot “mommy” in the face. Social services noted in the records that even though Ja’Myah was brave and strong, having to discuss the details of her mother’s murder troubled her. She told part of the story as she sat in a fetal position.
At Tiffany Bailey’s funeral, her children wore T-shirts that read, “Somewhere in heaven my mommy is smiling – RIP mommy,” CBS-46 reported. Someone else showed up to the funeral that day—Deunta Grier. Grier told an off-duty police officer he needed to talk. Officers transported him to the station, but when Grier arrived, he denied everything.
In early reports, it was said that gunshots rang out during Tiffany Bailey’s funeral. However, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution later reported that shots were fired near the church shortly after Deunta Grier left in a police car. Those who had seen Deunta at the funeral believed he had fired the shots. In the end, police said the shooting was between two groups. Each blamed the other for Tiffany’s death.
The murder of Tiffany Bailey is a cautionary tale. When she first met Deunta Grier, she was looking for love and financial stability. Deunta helped her financially and treated her oldest child like his own. She loved that about him.
Although Tiffany knew Deunta had a criminal record, she was willing to give him a second chance. However, his promises of a wholesome family life never came true. Instead, he settled back into his old ways, and Tiffany Bailey’s life spiraled downward until he finally killed her. Today, Deunta Akeem Grier is serving a life sentence plus 15 years in a Georgia correctional facility for the murder of Tiffany Bailey and a firearm offense.
Editor’s Note and Update: In 2022, Deunta Grier’s case went before the Georgia Supreme Court. Grier appealed his convictions, but on February 15, 2022, the court upheld them. His convictions and sentence remained in place.
For research and discovery purposes, both spellings of Deunta Grier/Deuntay Grier’s name are used. Tiffany Bailey's case was dramatized in TV One's true crime series Fatal Attraction on January 29, 2018, in the episode titled An Unlikely Witness (season 7 episode 9).
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