Gidden man sentenced to life behind bars in La Grange man’s murder

A Colorado County man was sentenced to life in prison last month in La Grange after nearly three solid days of testimony and arguments were offered in the sentencing phase of his trial.

A Fayette County jury on April 19 found Charles Lee Tilman Jr. guilty as charged in the murder of David Wayne Harrison Jr. of La Grange. His sentencing concluded on April 22, with the same jury recommending that Tilman receive the maximum sentence allowable by law, which in this case, amounted to life in prison. He will become eligible for parole in 30 years.

According to court documents, Harrison had gotten into an argument with Tillman’s daughter on the evening May 30, 2021, the day he was shot and killed.

After the argument, the daughter reached out to Tillman, who then traveled from Glidden, just west of Columbus, to confront Harrison at his La Grange apartment. The two men exchanged words during their first encounter, before Tillman left, angry.

A few moments later, court records showed, Tillman returned to the apartment with gun and confronted Harrison a second time. It was during that second encounter that Tillman shot Harrison three times before he fled the area, state prosecutors said.

Tillman eluded law enforcement for several months before finally getting arrested in November 2021 by U.S. Marshals. Tillman was on parole for a narcotics case at the time of the offense.

The Texas Rangers and the La Grange Police Department investigated Harrison’s murder. There were no eyewitnesses to the offense. However, law enforcement was able to obtain surveillance footage from the River Valley Apartments.

Although Tillman could not be readily identified based on the surveillance footage, the video captured a Silver Nissan Maxima belonging to Tillman’s girlfriend travelling to and from the apartments at the time of initial confrontation and at the time of the murder.

Law enforcement also obtained surveillance footage from a La Grange resident that captured the Silver Nissan Maxima travelling back and forth between Tillman’s daughter’s residence and the River Valley Apartments.

After murdering Harrison, Tillman dropped the key fob to the vehicle at the scene. A resident at the River Valley Apartments found the key fob the following morning. The Silver Nissan Maxima was later located at a residence in Glidden.

During the investigation, law enforcement also obtained phone records for a phone number associated with Tillman.

Cell tower data established that Tillman travelled from Glidden to La Grange and back in the timeframe of the murder, and call log information established that Tillman was in communication with his daughter and her mother just prior to the murder.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Joshua Somers and Assistant Attorney General Britni Cooper, and a detailed account of the case was offered in a May 7 press release sent out by the attorney general’s office.

With several relatives on both sides of the case in Colorado, Fayette and Lavaca counties, it was followed closely and reported on here in Lavaca County, both at the time of the murder and at the time of Tillman’s November 2021 arrest.