Neighbors fearful after remains found on jailed man's property

Russell Tillis has been in Duval County jail since latest arrest in May

As police spent a third day searching the Southside property of a jailed man, his neighbors told News4Jax on Friday that they have been living with anxiety and fear for years.

Human remains were found Thursday at the Bowden Circle East home of  Russell Tillis, who has been in jail since his latest arrest in May.

Jacksonville Sheriff's Office homicide detectives and crime scene investigators returned to the home Friday and seemed to be focusing behind the house, where there is a shed within a tall fence that obstructs the view. They wouldn't say much, except that they would probably continue to process the scene for several days.

Police said that a tip led them to begin a search of Tillis' property on Wednesday. The 54-year-old man was most recently accused of attacking a police officer with knives. Tillis has been arrested several times over the past decade, on charges including sexual assault, stalking, indecent exposure and soliciting for prostitution. 

He previously served 12 years in prison for convictions ranging from kidnapping to burglary to grand theft. He was charged in 2012 with attacking a 26-year-old prostitute. According to the report, "The suspect became aggressive, struck the victim in the mouth and forced her to perform" a sex act on him.

Another report from February 2015 said Tillis put nails in his neighbor’s driveway.

Records show police have been called to the home eight times in the past two years.

"It wasn't surprising that there's police over at that house because there's been police over there throughout the years," neighbor Justina David said. "Something seems to always be going on, so that wasn't surprising that it was at that house."

Neighbors said Tills terrorized their street for years. At least two women have filed restraining order against him for repeated violence and threats. One woman wrote in September 2014, “I fear for my safety and fear (he) will act on his threat.” They're now watching the investigation closely to see what comes out of it.

“It's really close to home right down there, you know. It was scary,” neighbor Brenda Smith said.  “It scares me a lot. I've been here all my life. I'm a native. And I've never experienced anything like this is, so close to home.”

Other neighbors said they have had years of problems with Tillis and described the home as an “evil house.”

They told police he was a drug addict who threw objects at them and exposed himself again and again.

One woman said she heard screams and cries coming from the property, and even once saw a woman chained to the fence. Neighbors said they've called police several times and hope that this time Tillis will be put away for good.

Patricia Lashley, a longtime neighbor of the man known to area residents as Rusty, said Tillis took over the house after his mother died in the last few years.

“When Rusty came back (after) his mother passed, the property was vacant, as far as I know,” Lashley said. “Rusty took over the property about a year ago, and he built it like a fortress. It looked weird because he had a very high privacy fence, all types of shacks and buildings everywhere. It looked like an armed camp.”

News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said it's hard to say how much police still have to investigate on the property. He said police will use technology that electronically penetrates the ground looking for evidence, and because of Tillis’ arrest record, detectives will likely research his past crimes to see if the remains could be linked to anything he did in the past.

“They’re going to pull his criminal record and look at the assaults he committed and look at the way he assaulted people,” Smith said. “And then when they get the remains here, they can check to see if those types of attacks are consistent with bruising or markings on the remains here that would connect him to the same types of assaults that he may have committed.”

Don Redman, who used to represent the neighborhood on the Jacksonville City Council, said residents contacted him for help.

"The threats that I took, the threats that the neighbors took, I hope he didn't really hurt somebody bad," Redman said.

Police would only say that human remains were found at the property and that there is still an active investigation at the scene. They said they are treating the case as a homicide.

Lashley said that despite Tillis' criminal history, she was surprised that human remains were found at the home.

“We’re all speculating, but we cannot fathom who it could be, because he had a bad reputation,” Lashley said. “It was a quiet neighborhood except for that, and then when his mother passed, then it changed quite drastically for even worse.”


About the Author:

Lifetime Jacksonville resident anchors the 8 and 9 a.m. weekday newscasts and is part of the News4Jax I-Team.