In July 2022, a 22-year-old Murfreesboro woman named Mya Fuller vanished after a night out in Nashville, and the search that followed ended in tragedy. Mya Fuller had worked an event at Geodis Park before she disappeared, and her family reported her missing within days. What followed was a criminal investigation that stretched across Wilson County, Tennessee and led to three arrests. By late 2025, two of the three defendants had entered guilty pleas. This article lays out the confirmed facts, the court outcomes, and what is still unresolved in the Mya Fuller case, based on court records and local news reporting.
Quick Facts About Mya Fuller
Here is a quick reference table summarizing what is publicly confirmed about Mya Fuller and her case, as of 2026.
| Full Name | Mya Fuller |
| Age at Time of Death | 22 years old |
| Hometown | Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
| Reported Missing | July 29, 2022 |
| Last Seen | Island Vibes nightclub, Antioch Pike, Nashville, July 30, 2022 |
| Remains Found | August 6, 2022, off Trammel Lane, Wilson County, Tennessee |
| Cause of Death | Multiple gunshot wounds, per the Wilson County Medical Examiner |
| Suspects Charged | Taiyana Tipton, Ty’Shawne Bowles, La’Myra Pipkins |
| Case Status (as of 2026) | Tipton and Bowles convicted by guilty plea; Pipkins’ case ongoing |
Who Was Mya Fuller Before She Went Missing
Mya Fuller was a 22-year-old woman from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, who worked an event at Geodis Park, the Nashville soccer stadium, the day before she disappeared. Local coverage of the case has focused almost entirely on the circumstances of her disappearance and death rather than her personal biography, since this remains an active criminal matter tied to a real family’s loss.
At her sentencing hearing for one of the defendants, her mother, Tonya Fuller, described her daughter in a victim impact statement as intelligent, kind, and someone who had never done anything to hurt anyone. That description, offered by her own mother, is one of the few firsthand characterizations of Mya Fuller that has been made part of the public record.
Fuller’s parents also appeared together at a press conference in Murfreesboro on October 5, 2022, during the period when she was still classified as missing, asking the public for any information that could help investigators locate her. That appearance, along with later court statements from her mother, forms the bulk of what has been shared publicly about who Mya Fuller was outside of the criminal case itself.
The Night Mya Fuller Disappeared in Nashville
According to investigators, Mya Fuller worked an event at Geodis Park in Nashville and was later seen at a nightclub called Island Vibes on Antioch Pike on July 30, 2022. Prosecutors say a dispute had taken place the night before between Fuller and one of the eventual defendants, Taiyana Tipton.
Court records state that a second defendant, Ty’Shawne Bowles, learned about that dispute and searched social media until he located Fuller. He then invited her to a party that same night, allegedly aware that his sister, Tipton, intended to confront and assault her there. Fuller accepted the invitation and went to the party.
How the Search for Mya Fuller Began
Fuller’s family reported her missing on July 29, 2022, after losing contact with her. The disappearance drew local media attention almost immediately, and her parents made public appeals for information, including a press conference held on October 5, 2022, asking anyone with knowledge of her whereabouts to come forward.
The Wilson County Sheriff’s Office led the investigation alongside Nashville-area agencies. Detectives worked to trace Fuller’s movements on the night of July 30, ultimately connecting her disappearance to the party she had attended and to the people who had been present there.
Discovery of Mya Fuller’s Remains in Wilson County
On August 6, 2022, human remains later confirmed to be Mya Fuller were found in a wooded, undeveloped area off Trammel Lane in the southeastern portion of Wilson County. The location was described in reporting as a remote lot behind property under development, consistent with an area chosen to avoid detection.
The discovery confirmed the worst fears of Fuller’s family and shifted the investigation from a missing person case to a homicide investigation. Wilson County authorities, working with the district attorney’s office, began building a case against the three people eventually taken into custody.
What the Medical Examiner Found in This Case
The Office of the Medical Examiner determined that Mya Fuller died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds. Court reporting cited in coverage of the case described holes in her clothing consistent with bullet damage, with injuries to the ribs and leg and at least one bullet recovered during examination.
Some later reporting, including PEOPLE’s coverage of the case, stated Fuller was shot seven times and left in an abandoned lot in the remote area of Wilson County where her remains were later found. The exact number of gunshot wounds has been described somewhat differently across outlets, but all confirm the cause of death as gunfire.
The Three Suspects Charged in Mya Fuller’s Death
The Wilson County Sheriff’s Office took three people into custody in connection with Fuller’s death: Taiyana Tipton, then 21, her brother Ty’Shawne Bowles, then 20, and an associate of the two, La’Myra Pipkins, also 20. All three were held without bond following their arrests.
Tipton and Bowles were each charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, and abuse of a corpse. Pipkins was charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping. The case proceeded through Wilson County courts over the following years, with each defendant’s charges resolved separately.
Inside the Party Where Mya Fuller Was Attacked
Prosecutors laid out the sequence of events at each defendant’s plea hearing. Bowles located Fuller on social media and invited her to a party, aware that Tipton intended to assault her over their prior dispute. Fuller went to the party and was attacked there by both Tipton and Pipkins.
At the conclusion of the assault, according to the district attorney’s account, Tipton placed Fuller in the trunk of her car and drove away with her. Bowles told investigators he drove behind his sister’s car for a portion of that drive before she got too far ahead of him, though he denied knowing that Tipton intended to kidnap or kill Fuller.
Taiyana Tipton’s Guilty Plea and Life Sentence
Taiyana Tipton, by then 23, was scheduled to stand trial in Wilson County in March 2025. Days before jury selection, she unexpectedly changed her plea, appearing in court and pleading guilty to all charges connected to Fuller’s death, a decision the district attorney’s office said it had not been told about in advance.
Judge Brody Kane immediately sentenced Tipton to life in prison for first-degree premeditated murder and a second life sentence for felony first-degree murder. Because both sentences involved the same victim, they merged into a single life sentence. A separate hearing was later held to address the kidnapping and abuse of a corpse charges.
Ty’Shawne Bowles Pleads Guilty to a Lesser Charge
Ty’Shawne Bowles’s case was scheduled for trial in October 2025, but a plea agreement was reached the week before proceedings were set to begin. On October 14, 2025, Bowles pleaded guilty to facilitation of especially aggravated kidnapping, a Class B felony, rather than the original murder and kidnapping charges he had faced.
District Attorney General Jason Lawson explained that the plea reflected the level of Bowles’s actual involvement, noting that while Bowles invited Fuller to the party and bore responsibility for that decision, the evidence did not show he intended or participated in her death. Bowles was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
La’Myra Pipkins and the Case That Remains Open
La’Myra Pipkins, the third person charged in Mya Fuller’s death, remains charged with kidnapping and first-degree murder in perpetration of a kidnapping. Unlike Tipton and Bowles, Pipkins had not entered a plea as of the most recent reporting on the case in late 2025.
A trial date had been set for November 2025, though outcomes of scheduled criminal trials can shift due to court calendars, additional plea negotiations, or procedural motions. Readers following the Mya Fuller case should check current Wilson County court records for the latest status of Pipkins’s prosecution.
How Mya Fuller’s Family Has Responded in Court
Fuller’s mother, Tonya Fuller, has spoken at multiple hearings throughout the case. At Bowles’s sentencing, she said her family did not agree with the 12-year sentence, even while acknowledging that prosecutors were following the law in reaching the plea agreement.
At an earlier hearing, she described her daughter in stark terms, telling the court that Mya was murdered, beaten, and treated without dignity, and criticizing what she described as a long period of silence from the defense before any resolution was reached. Her statements remain among the only public accounts of how the case has affected the family directly.
Legal Terms Explained in the Mya Fuller Case
First-Degree Murder
First-degree murder in Tennessee refers to a premeditated, intentional killing. Tipton was convicted of this charge along with felony first-degree murder, which applies when a killing occurs during the commission of another serious felony, in this case kidnapping.
Especially Aggravated Kidnapping
This charge applies to kidnapping carried out with a deadly weapon or resulting in serious bodily injury. Bowles pleaded guilty to facilitating this offense rather than committing it directly, meaning prosecutors determined he knowingly assisted the kidnapping without being its primary actor.
Timeline of the Mya Fuller Investigation
July 29, 2022: Fuller’s family reports her missing. July 30, 2022: Fuller is last seen at Island Vibes nightclub after attending a party. August 6, 2022: Human remains later identified as Fuller are found off Trammel Lane in Wilson County.
March 2025: Taiyana Tipton pleads guilty to all charges and is sentenced to life in prison. October 14, 2025: Ty’Shawne Bowles pleads guilty to a lesser charge and is sentenced to 12 years. November 2025: La’Myra Pipkins’s trial is scheduled, with the case still active as of the most recent reporting.
Media Coverage and Community Reaction
The Mya Fuller case drew sustained coverage from Nashville-area outlets including WKRN, WSMV, and WZTV, as well as national attention from outlets like PEOPLE once the second guilty plea was entered in October 2025. Much of that coverage focused on the contrast between the two resolved cases: a life sentence for Tipton versus a 12-year term for Bowles.
Local reporters also tracked the case through its procedural milestones, from the initial press conference held by Fuller’s parents in October 2022 to the readiness hearing where Tipton’s surprise plea was entered in 2025. That sustained coverage has kept public attention on the case even as it moved slowly through pretrial motions, scheduling delays, and negotiated pleas over roughly three years.
What This Case Shows About Plea Deals in Tennessee
The differing outcomes for Tipton and Bowles illustrate how Tennessee prosecutors weigh individual culpability even within a single case. Tipton, accused of directly assaulting Fuller and driving away with her in the trunk of a car, faced the most serious charges and received the maximum available sentence for first-degree murder.
Bowles, by contrast, was accused of setting events in motion by inviting Fuller to the party without directly participating in the assault or the killing itself. District Attorney General Jason Lawson said the facilitation charge reflected that narrower role. Plea agreements like this one are common in cases with multiple defendants, where prosecutors calibrate charges to the evidence available against each person rather than treating co-defendants identically.
How to Follow Updates on the Pipkins Trial
Because La’Myra Pipkins’s case remained open as of the most recent reporting, anyone following the Mya Fuller case should expect further developments. Court dates in Wilson County can move due to scheduling conflicts, additional plea negotiations, or defense motions, so a trial date reported in one month is not guaranteed to hold.
The most reliable way to track the case going forward is through the Wilson County Circuit Court Clerk’s office and continuing coverage from the same Nashville-area outlets that have followed the case since 2022, including WSMV, WKRN, and WZTV, along with the District Attorney General’s office for the 15th Judicial District.
Personal Information of Mya Fuller
The following details reflect what has been confirmed through court proceedings and news coverage of the Mya Fuller case. Because this is an active criminal matter involving a private individual, information beyond what officials and outlets have made public is not available and will not be estimated here.
Full Name
Court and news records identify her as Mya Fuller.
Age
Mya Fuller was 22 years old at the time of her death in 2022.
Hometown
Mya Fuller was from Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Occupation
Reporting indicates she had worked an event at Geodis Park in Nashville shortly before she disappeared.
Family
Her mother, Tonya Fuller, has spoken publicly at court hearings; her father has also appeared alongside her mother at a 2022 press conference. Other family details have not been made public.
A Note on Physical Description and Privacy
Some biography-style articles include detailed physical description tables covering height, weight, eye color, and similar attributes. None of that information has been made part of the public record in Mya Fuller’s case, and inventing it would misrepresent a real person who was the victim of a violent crime. Out of respect for her family, this article does not include estimated or fabricated physical details.
Social Media and Public Presence
News coverage indicates Fuller was reachable on social media, which is how Bowles located her before the party where she was attacked. Specific handles or account names have not been published in court records or news reporting reviewed for this article, and none are included here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Mya Fuller?
Mya Fuller was a 22-year-old woman from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, who disappeared in July 2022 after attending a party in Nashville and was later found dead in Wilson County.
When did Mya Fuller go missing?
Mya Fuller’s family reported her missing on July 29, 2022. She was last seen at a nightclub on Antioch Pike the following night.
Where was Mya Fuller found?
Human remains identified as Mya Fuller were discovered on August 6, 2022, in a wooded area off Trammel Lane in Wilson County, Tennessee.
How did Mya Fuller die?
The Wilson County Medical Examiner determined that Mya Fuller died from multiple gunshot wounds.
Who was charged in the Mya Fuller case?
Three people were charged: Taiyana Tipton, Ty’Shawne Bowles, and La’Myra Pipkins, all connected to Fuller through a personal dispute and a party she attended.
What happened to Taiyana Tipton?
Taiyana Tipton pleaded guilty to all charges in March 2025, including first-degree murder, and was sentenced to life in prison.
What happened to Ty’Shawne Bowles?
Ty’Shawne Bowles pleaded guilty in October 2025 to facilitation of especially aggravated kidnapping, a lesser charge, and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Is La’Myra Pipkins still facing charges?
Yes. As of the most recent reporting, La’Myra Pipkins remained charged with kidnapping and first-degree murder, with a trial scheduled for November 2025.
Why did Ty’Shawne Bowles get a lesser sentence than Taiyana Tipton?
Prosecutors said the evidence showed Bowles invited Fuller to the party but did not intend or participate in her death, which led to a facilitation charge rather than murder.
What did Mya Fuller’s family say about the sentencing?
Fuller’s mother, Tonya Fuller, said at multiple hearings that her family disagreed with the sentences given, particularly the 12-year term for Bowles, while acknowledging prosecutors followed the law.
Where is Wilson County, Tennessee?
Wilson County is located east of Nashville and includes the city of Lebanon, where the courthouse handling the Mya Fuller case is located.
Who was the judge in the Mya Fuller case?
Judge Brody Kane presided over the Wilson County proceedings and sentenced Taiyana Tipton to life in prison after her guilty plea.
Who is the district attorney handling the Mya Fuller case?
District Attorney General Jason Lawson of the 15th Judicial District has led the prosecution throughout the case and spoke at multiple plea and sentencing hearings.
Why the Mya Fuller Case Still Matters
Cases like this one often fade from headlines once an arrest is made, but the Mya Fuller case stayed in the news for more than three years precisely because it moved through the court system in stages. Each plea and sentencing brought renewed attention and gave the family another opportunity to speak about their loss in open court.
The case also highlights how a personal dispute between acquaintances can escalate into a fatal outcome, and how prosecutors distinguish between defendants who directly cause a death and those who facilitate the circumstances leading to it. For readers researching the case, the record now includes two resolved convictions and one still-pending prosecution, making the Mya Fuller case a useful example of how multi-defendant homicide cases unfold in Tennessee courts.
Conclusion
The Mya Fuller case moved through the Wilson County court system over more than three years, from her disappearance in July 2022 to guilty pleas from two of the three people charged in her death. Taiyana Tipton received a life sentence, Ty’Shawne Bowles received 12 years on a lesser charge, and La’Myra Pipkins’s case remained active as of the most recent reporting. What is clear throughout is that Mya Fuller was a 22-year-old woman whose life was cut short, and whose family has continued to speak publicly at every stage of the legal process. Readers who want the latest developments, including any update on Pipkins’s trial, should follow official Wilson County court records and continuing coverage from Nashville-area news outlets.
