An off-duty Chicago police officer was charged with the death of his girlfriend and mother of his baby daughter after she confronted him over claims he’d had a child with another woman.
Pierre Tyler, 29, faces one count of first-degree murder in connection with the death of mother-of-two Andris Wofford, 29, after allegedly fatally shooting her in the head.
The couple welcomed a daughter, Ava, just nine months ago.
Wofford was found dead inside her apartment on the Northwest Side shortly after 10am on Thursday after police were asked to perform a wellness check on her by her parents.
Tyler was caught in surveillance video entering and leaving the apartment on the 2100 block of North Nashville, and the bullet that took Wofford’s life matched the caliber of a pistol he said to have left at her apartment, prosecutors said. Â
Tyler’s defense lawyer said the evidence is ‘ largely circumstantial.’
The couple had a prior documented domestic dispute. According to relatives of the victim, she decided to confront Tyler after find out he had had a child with another woman and had a child support hearing pending, police said. It is unclear how old that child is, and whether it was conceived while Tyler and Wofford were together.
Tyler, who joined the force in 2016 after serving 8 years in the Army, is being held at Cook County Jail without bond until his next court hearing on December 31.
Friends of Wofford, who was a child welfare specialist, said she had ended her relationship with Tyler in March and had a co-parenting relationship with him ‘whenever he actually decided to do for his child.’
According to police, Wofford learned Tyler had a pending child support hearing and told relatives she believed Tyler had secretly married the mother of the other child, FOX reported.
On December 8th, Tyler was caught in security footage walking in the front door of her apartment unit, police said.
Wofford reportedly made calls to family members between 4pm and 6pm asking them to pick up her 9-month-old baby, Ava, from daycare, before neighbors heard her and Tyler argue around 7pm, police said.
Prosecutors said one neighbor reported a loud bang approximately between 8.30pm and 9pm. No more arguing was heard after that.
Tyler was then caught again in surveillance video leaving the back door of the apartment minutes after 9pm, police said.
He allegedly carried a gun inside a holster behind his back and a ‘distinct keychain’ Wofford was seen using before. Her keys and cellphone were missing, police said.
He left in his car.
A message from Wofford’s cellphone indicated she would soon be at her father’s place to pick up her baby but she never arrived.
Wofford’s parents alerted police, who found her inside the front door of the apartment with a gunshot wound to the head.
She was still wearing her coat when she was found by police and there weren’t signs of forced entry in the apartment, police said.
Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled her death a homicide on Friday.
The 9mm bullet that killed her matched the caliber of a pistol found in Tyler’s gun range bag during the execution of a search warrant, which prompted his arrest.
Tyler claimed to have left Wofford’s home around 9pm to meet with a confidential informant on the West Side, but fellow officers said it would not be normal for him to meet anyone without company, authorities said.
Tyler was a CPD tactical officer who in the US Army with two combat deployments to Afghanistan and Kuwait.