Photo: Grace Lao Lutheran Church
RICHMOND — A man suspected of beating his girlfriend to death was arrested on suspicion of murder. The victim was evidently down on her luck and homeless for a while. Her body was discovered outside of a church on a recent chilly morning.
Police responded to a call concerning an unresponsive woman on January 31. It was about 10 a.m. when officers found her corpse on a porch at Grace Lao Lutheran Church on Carlson Boulevard.
The 44-year-old victim Jaimee L. Ellam was pronounced dead at the scene—shortly after officers located her. It appears she died from unspecified trauma injuries.
Ellam’s boyfriend, Tiocha E. Schultz, 38 of Richmond, was taken into custody on the same day Ellam’s body was found. Schultz was booked for murder and has been held in custody in lieu of $1 million bail.
Ironically, the suspect and victim shared a common affinity for getting into trouble with the law. They were both in and out of jail many times, before their fates became forever melded together involving the murder.
Schultz has a long rap sheet—with 10 prior arrests for various offenses in Contra Costa County. Schultz was arrested twice in January—first for vandalism and then on suspicion of murdering Ellam.
Before being brutally beaten and left to die homeless, Ellam’s life was on a downward trajectory for several years. She was arrested several times for drugs, vehicle theft, wrong way driving, and other offenses.
