Augusta mother Tamiko Shynese Bolton, 36, was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday after being found guilty in the 2024 beating death of Elias Jkhael Delk in Augusta.
Though she will be eligible for parole, her family is preparing an appeal, claiming the conviction was based on unreliable evidence and that she played no role in the killing.
Bolton was convicted of participating in the June 15, 2024, fatal assault outside the Dollar General on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, where 28-year-old Delk was found dead from multiple blunt force injuries. Authorities said Delk was attacked by a group using fists, feet, and a stick.
Tamiko’s mother, Vontricia Bolton, said the case against her daughter was flawed from the beginning.
“They went off one drunk woman’s statement,” she said, referring to a key witness who testified that Tamiko kicked Delk in the head. “They should not take the word of someone who was drunk.”
She also questioned the credibility of the investigation. Creston Curry, originally charged in the case, had his charges dropped in May after text messages surfaced that placed him elsewhere in unrelated activity, Vontricia Bolton said.
Vontricia said her daughter never took the stand but had an alibi. “They have absolutely nothing on my daughter,” she said.
She also pointed to a lack of physical evidence. “When they did the autopsy, they didn’t find a drop of my daughter’s spit,” she said. “She was just there, but she had nothing to do with it.”
Vontricia said others involved in the fight have not been held accountable. Tamiko was 130 pounds at the time, her mother said, and could not have inflicted the injuries found on Delk. “It was men that beat that man. Men!” she said. “They know the man who had the stick. They won’t go after him.”
According to Vontricia, Tamiko arrived at the scene after learning her friend had been beaten by Delk. “Delk had beat up her friend. He had to go to the hospital,” she said. “She walked up to where he was laying to find out what happened.”
She claimed a security guard from a nearby club was involved and has since been sent “out of town… to Florida.”
According to Vontricia, Tamiko cried after the verdict was read. “Now, she is gone for something she did not do.”
Tamiko Bolton is the mother of two teenagers, a 17-year-old daughter and a 16-year-old son. Vontricia is now caring for them. Their father, Doniel Hicks, was murdered in Augusta in 2012.
“We’re filing an appeal today,” Vontricia said Thursday morning. “Her attorney, she is going downtown.”
Despite the conviction, Superior Court Judge Jesse Stone reportedly gave Bolton the most lenient sentence available, allowing for the possibility of parole. The case remains open.
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