For the children of Tia Hutson a guilty verdict for the man who killed their mother is a complicated feeling, but it has restored their faith in the legal system as they try to move forward.
On May 1, after almost two weeks of testimony, a jury returned a verdict of guilty on Gregory Bell in the beating death of Tia Hutson. It only took 25 minutes for the jury of eight men and four women, to return a maximum term of life in prison and fine of $10,000.
The 58-year-old Bell handed over his sentencing to the jury if he was convicted. Assistant District Attorney Paige McCormick urged the jury to show Bell how they feel about what he did and sentence him to life.
The trial lasted one day shy of two weeks as the jury went out to deliberate May 1. Bell was charged with the murder of Tia Hutson, 50, Saint Jo.
His former girlfriend, Hutson was found beaten and raped inside her home on Aug 5, 2022. Six days later she died from her injuries never regaining consciousness. Bell was accused of using a large flashlight to beat her.
It has been almost three years since Trevor Riley and his sister Kami Taylor lost their mother Tia Hutson. They remained fearful for their family as no arrest was made for 15 months. Then after the arrest the time ticked away until the trial.
Both of them testified in the trial and sat through it day after day waiting for a verdict. Riley says they really didn’t have a choice but to take it day by day, adding the new team at the district attorney’s office was very accommodating and understanding, and their support made it easier.
“Our family would like to express our gratitude to the people that helped us find justice. Their compassion and professionalism was an indescribable comfort in our time of need,” explained Riley.

Read the full story in the Thursday Bowie News.

Victim impact statement from Kami Taylor, daughter of Tia Hutson
I remember the night my mom was murdered. It felt like the ground disappeared beneath me. One minute, she was making me waffles in our kitchen and hours later, she was beaten and raped in her own home. I still remember the moment I found out. Everything around me went quiet, like the world stopped spinning., I couldn’t cry right away, I couldn’t even speak. Something inside of me broke, and I’ve never fully put the pieces back together. Tia Hutson wasn’t just taken from me, she was ripped from my life by an act of senseless violence, and nothing could have prepared me for the pain.
Her absence is something that burdens me every day, in the quiet moments when I need her voice, a hug, a laugh, a friend. But no. She was taken from me, an 18-year-old who had just started to get a taste of life, by someone who was supposed to love her and care for her. I still find myself waking up in the middle of the night, crying for her. I miss her. I need her.
Greg Bell is a dangerous individual unfit for society. Not only did he terrorize, rape, and murder my mom, he threatened to do the same to me and the rest of my family. He has shown reckless disregard for the law. I cannot explain the daily terror I faced at his hands, afraid that I would run into him somewhere and he would do the same thing to me as he did to my mom.
Tia was taken too soon. I lost her one week before I started college, her funeral being the day before my first day of class. She never got to see me graduate with my associate’s degree, and she won’t see me graduate with my bachelor’s. She won’t see me get married.
My mom was a problem solver and a fixer. I wish she could fix the pain he’s caused me, and the pain he’s caused all of us. What hurts most is knowing she’s not going to be here smiling, laughing, living, and growing old. But instead, I was left in silence, with questions that will never be answered, and with a pain so deep that it follows me everywhere. Her death didn’t just hurt me, it shattered my world. And every day, I’m still trying to survive the weight of losing her.
But, momma, we did it. We got justice.