A 20-year-old Illinois woman, Tnashia Wash, will spend decades in prison for the 2023 murder of 30-year-old Roderick Richardson, her then-boyfriend. While Wash claimed she had shot Richardson in self-defense, evidence, including four gunshot wounds to the back of the victim, showed otherwise.
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According to the Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office, Was was sentenced to 31 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. She pleaded guilty to first-degree murder back in June 2025, in exchange for a possible maximum sentence of 35 years.
While the defense argued for the 20-year minimum sentence, as reported by WMBD, Chief Peoria County Judge Katherine Gorman thought otherwise. While Gorman recognized that Wash had no previous criminal history, she stated that “there had to be a significant consequence.”
Illinois law requires Wash to serve 100 percent of her sentence. However, due to her age at the time of the murder, she is eligible for parole after serving 20 years.
Fatal Shooting
The incident occurred back on October 16, 2023. At the time, Tnashia Wash and her child were living with Roderick Richardson. A fight broke out between the two, and Wash initially claimed that Richardson tried to shoot her and her child. Therefore, she grabbed a gun and shot her boyfriend, killing him in self-defense.
Wash claimed that, at the time of the shooting, Richardson was coming toward her in a threatening manner. However, an autopsy revealed that the man suffered a total of 6 gunshot wounds, all of them not fired in close range. Two of them were on the front of his body, while four of them were on the back, all of them inconsistent with self-defense.
After the murder, Wash used her phone to take pictures of Richardson’s body, prosecutors said.
During her sentencing hearing, Wash cried as she took responsibility, saying she was “young and scared” at the time of the incident, and that she was in a “fight or flight” situation as per WMBD.
Meanwhile, Richardson’s aunt read an emotional statement written by the victim’s mother. The statement said, in part, “No parent should have to feel the pain of burying their own child.”