Died from injuries he sustained on October 2, 1999 when he was shot at his home by
Tracey Tarlton while he was sleeping. Tarlton said she shot Beard because her lover,
Celeste Beard Johnson, claimed that he was abusing her. Tarlton later testified against Johnson after learning that Johnson had remarried and had hired someone to kill her. Tarlton was released from prison on parole in August 2011 after serving 10 years. Johnson, who denied she and Tarlton were ever intimate, was convicted of capital murder in 2003, and sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after 40 years.
