After more than three years in an “on-again, off-again” relationship, a Gwinnett County sheriff’s deputy filed for a temporary protective order from her boyfriend, court records show.
Tamara Tuitt-Bartlett said Eric Sumner had threatened her and abused her and her teenage son in the April filing in Forsyth County Superior Court.
“As time has gone on, he has become more and more insecure and starting arguments out of nowhere,” Tuitt-Bartlett wrote in court documents. “He’s becoming more verbally abusive to me and my son. During heated discussion his temperament goes from 0-100. I have requested numerous times for Mr. Sumner to leave because of his unpredictable behavior.”
Tuitt-Bartlett later dropped the request to have the court keep Sumner away from her. But the violence didn’t end, according to investigators. On Saturday, Sumner allegedly shot and killed Tuitt-Bartlett and injured her son inside her home, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office said. She was 49.
According to the Georgia Commission on Family Violence, reports of domestic violence statewide increased by 12% from 2023 to 2024. Last year, 159 people were killed in Georgia by a partner or family member, the commission said.
In Georgia, 17,662 emergency, temporary restraining orders were issued in 2024, with women filing for requests 80% of the time, according to GCFV data.
But not all domestic violence is reported, according to the Council on Criminal Justice. Definitions of what constitutes domestic violence may differ among victims and law enforcement agencies. Advocacy groups may do their own tallies of incidents, making it hard for researchers to get the true rate it occurs, the council said in an October 2024 report.
“Because of such factors, the United States has no solid grasp on how much domestic violence actually occurs in communities,” the report states.
After filing for a protective order on April 29, Tuitt-Bartlett’s request was granted, court documents show. Sumner was ordered to leave her home and stay away from the woman and her son.
During an argument with Sumner the previous day, Tuitt-Bartlett’s son called 911 without her knowledge, her petition states.
Less than a month later, Tuitt-Bartlett filed to dismiss the protective order, according to court documents. She was not required to state why she wanted it dropped.
On Saturday evening, Tuitt-Bartlett’s injured son ran to a neighbor’s home for help, investigators said. When deputies arrived, Tuitt-Bartlett was already dead in her upstairs bedroom.
Tuitt-Bartlett was a nearly 20-year veteran of the Gwinnett sheriff’s office and master deputy.
Sumner, 43, then left the area and traveled some 80 miles south on I-75 and was tracked to Monroe County. He was taken into custody after a brief chase, investigators said.
On Sunday, Sumner was booked into the Forsyth County Jail. He has been charged with murder, two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, according to investigators. He appeared in court Tuesday morning to have his charges read.
Sumner served three stints in prison between 2002 and 2012 for drug convictions, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections. As a felon, he could not legally have a gun.
Tuitt-Bartlett knew about Sumner’s criminal background and was concerned about him having access to her service weapon, court documents state.
Though the weekend shooting remains under investigation, deputies do not believe Sumner used Tuitt-Bartlett’s service weapon, a sheriff’s office spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.
Despite her career in law enforcement, Tuitt-Bartlett became a victim herself, exposing a common misconception, according to Barbara Gibson with the Women’s Resource Center to End Domestic Violence.
“Domestic violence can happen to anyone,” Gibson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “If we pretend that that’s not the case, it’s a really false sense of safety we have.”
Some victims may drop protective orders to keep “the peace,” Gibson said. Plus, there is shame and stigma that comes with reporting domestic violence, she said.
Tuitt-Bartlett previously lost a son in a deadly hit-and-run crash that remains unsolved. On June 2, 2021, Richard Bartlett III was trying to secure a mattress on top of a vehicle when he was struck in Johns Creek. He was 23.
In addition to the teenage son and her son killed in the 2021 crash, Tuitt-Bartlett was the mother of former NFL player Stephon Tuitt. He retired from the league in 2022, citing his brother’s death among his reasons.
IF YOU NEED HELP
Georgia’s 24-hour domestic violence hotline can be reached at 1-800-33-HAVEN (1-800-334-2836). Calls are automatically connected to the caller’s nearest shelters.
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