On January 8, 2024, deputies assigned to the Patrol Operations Bureau responded to the alley south of 3564 52nd Avenue North after a passerby located the body of a deceased woman. The body was wrapped in a white sheet and covered in a piece of cardboard.
On January 12, 2024, Sheriff Bob Gualtieri held a press conference to discuss the death of 30-year-old Jillian Tully.
Throughout the investigation, detectives learned that at approximately midnight on January 8, 2024, the maintenance man for the Gateway Motel, 56-year-old John Yeckley, invited Tully into his motel room to do drugs. Yeckley smoked crack cocaine, and Tully injected fentanyl. According to detectives, Yeckley advised he fell asleep, and when he woke up around 5:00 a.m., he found Tully deceased on the floor. Yeckley then recruited 41-year-old Michael Sloan to assist him in moving Tully’s deceased body to the alleyway where she was later found.
Sheriff Gualtieri discussed the fentanyl and opioid epidemic within Pinellas County and the state. He stated, “We need to be more effective with case management and driving these people into treatment and in the right direction.”
Yeckley and Sloan were arrested and charged with tampering with physical evidence. They were transported to the Pinellas County Jail.
The investigation continues.
To view the entire press conference, please visit: