During the 1960s, Robbie Montgomery toured the country as a backup vocalist. She shared the stage with Ike and Tina Turner, R&B great Dr. John, and blues legend Earl Hooker, among others.
Her singing career would have taken her a long way. Her lungs, on the other hand, had collapsed. Robbie Montgomery subsequently transitioned to a new career as a dialysis technician. While she didn’t want to do it, it was a way to raise money for her dream project: Sweetie Pie’s, a restaurant that opened in 1996.
She’s the face of a comfort food business that satisfies the senses while soothing the spirit. The restaurant also employs repentant criminals who have completed their sentences.
The restaurant was even picked up by the Oprah Winfrey Network as a reality show called Welcome To Sweetie Pie’s. And, while this may appear to be a lovely ending, it is rife with tragedies that tend to haunt and increase. Montgomery’s bright smile hides tears of grief for her children’s deaths.
The First Tragic Event
Montgomery’s first child was born to her and Art Lassiter, a musician well known for his work with Ike. Although they were not married, their son, Andre, was born in 1961. Montgomery recalled him as a wayward young man who desired to live in the fast lane. Then, in 1995, Andre got into a street brawl with two other men.
One used a baseball bat to smash him in the head, while the other stabbed him to death. Unfortunately, she didn’t find out about the incident until a week later. Andre had a son, Andre Jr., a year before he was murdered, and Montgomery reared him as a loving mother figure.
The Second Tragic Event
Welcome To Sweetie Pie’s featured Adnre Jr. on a regular basis. He had a warm and charming attitude, similar to Montgomery’s. In 2013, he graduated from high school in front of the entire globe. Unfortunately, he was slain in a shooting in his house on Natural Bridge Avenue in St. Louis in 2016.
Initially, this was a shocking and strange case. The person who shot Andre Jr. in the head has yet to be identified. The perpetrator also shot another individual who rushed to aid the victim. On the broadcast, Montgomery and her second son (and Andre Jr.’s uncle), Tim Norman, paid their respects at the crime scene. Unfortunately, the shooting took occurred just a few blocks from where Andre Sr. was killed.
Discovering the Truth
Norman was charged of being involved in the murder of Andre Jr. after a protracted inquiry. He, an exotic dancer named Terica Ellis with whom he had an affair, and a hired gun were all implicated in the plot. Andre Jr. obtained a $450,000 life insurance policy in 2014, which set off the plot. Norman was the sole recipient because he was under 18 at the time.
Prior to the murder, Ellis told Norman that he was heading to St. Louis, Missouri. Norman had flown in from Los Angeles the day before the murder, and the two of them kept in communication via disposable phones.
She also used the gadget to contact Andre Jr. in order to find out where he was. She later met up with Andre Jr. in front of his house, when he was gunned killed by a veiled figure. She sped away from the crime site and headed for Tennessee. She deposited more than $9000 in several bank accounts over the next few days. Norman made many efforts to cash the payments, all of which totaled the insurance amount.
However, it was ineffective, and the law finally caught up with the incident’s shadiness. Both Norman and Ellis, as well as the insurance agent involved, Waiel Yaghnam, are now in prison. However, while justice is achieved, Montgomery’s suffering is unrelieved.
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