“I WAS IN A BACK ROOM WHEN I HEARD A NOISE”!!! BELIEVE IT OR NOT, POLICE SAY RONTAVIOUS JEROME DILLARD CHANGED HIS STORY THREE TIMES AFTER HIS GIRLFRIEND NYLA HOWELL WAS SHOT DEAD IN MEMPHIS… AND HE IS NOW CHARGED WITH SECOND-DEGREE MURDER.
On August 30, 2026, at around 7:54 p.m., emergency personnel responded to a reported shooting at a home in Memphis, Tennessee.
The residence was located in the 5800 block of Jardin Place.
Officers were dispatched to the scene after a man called 911 to report that his girlfriend had been shot.
Upon their arrival at the house, police officers and paramedics found a woman suffering from a gunshot wound.
Paramedics transported the victim from the Jardin Place home to a hospital.
She was later pronounced dead by medical staff at the facility.
Police identified the deceased victim as 22-year-old Nyla Howell.
Investigators identified her boyfriend as 23-year-old Rontavious Jerome Dillard.
Police said Dillard was taken to the Homicide Bureau for questioning.
While detectives questioned him, investigators obtained a search warrant for the residence on Jardin Place.
Officers then conducted a search of the property.
Outside the residence, investigators discovered a black Glock handgun.
The handgun had been hidden inside a gap between fences.
Investigators noted that the serial number on the Glock had been shaved off.
Authorities also inspected the interior of the residence for evidence.
Inside the home, investigators found blood smears on the first floor.
The blood smears led upward from the first floor to a second-floor walk-in attic.
Officers entered the walk-in attic space to continue their search.
Inside the attic, investigators discovered a mini Draco handgun.
The mini Draco had been concealed inside a box of furnace filters.
Court documents detailed the operational condition of both recovered weapons.
Both firearms were loaded when officers retrieved them.
Each weapon had a live round resting inside its chamber.
Both handguns carried additional rounds of ammunition inside extended magazines.
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Meanwhile, investigators questioned Dillard at the Homicide Bureau about Howell’s death.
Investigators said Dillard initially claimed he had been in a back room of the home when he heard a noise.
He told detectives that he then walked into the front room.
According to that initial account, he discovered that Howell had been shot.
But Dillard later changed his account to investigators.
In his second version of events, he told investigators that Howell had been playing with the black handgun.
Dillard said he attempted to take the weapon away from Howell.
He told police he was twisting the gun toward her when it discharged.
The discharging firearm struck Howell.
Then Dillard changed his story to investigators once again.
He told police that he and Howell had been seeing who could “up” a gun the fastest.
According to court documents, Howell picked up the Glock.
Dillard picked up the mini Draco handgun.
He told police he raised the Draco in Howell’s direction.
The firearm discharged.
The shot struck Howell.
Investigators said Dillard admitted hiding both firearms after the shooting occurred.
He told police he hid the weapons because he knew he was prohibited from possessing guns as a convicted felon.
And he told police that both recovered firearms belonged to him.
Dillard was subsequently placed under arrest.
He was charged with second-degree murder.
He was charged with possessing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony.
He was charged with tampering with evidence.
He was charged with two counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.
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