It was a year ago in a phone call to a Montana hospital that a Riverton mother told her son she loved him and that his suffering would be over soon.
Then she said a prayer and told him goodbye.
Because his brain was damaged by a multiple hard blows to the skull, all 33-year-old Bryant Skyhawk Tillman could do was grunt in response.
That same day he died.
“It feels like only yesterday that this barely happened,” said Camellia Tillman, Bryant’s mother, in a Monday interview with Cowboy State Daily. “I still can’t believe he’s gone.”
Tillman had been partying with other people in a trailer house in Fort Washakie the night of May 5, 2022, Tillman said.
At least one person attacked him. Bryant’s doctor later told Camellia that the break to Bryant’s skull, his brain swelling and other facial fractures looked like he’d been bludgeoned with a gun barrel.
Bryant Tillman’s leg was swollen, multiple bones in his body were broken, said his mother, who believes that by the day of his death, he couldn’t see.
‘Back To Life’
Two of the people who’d been in the trailer house that night called for an ambulance.
Ambulance and Lander SageWest emergency room personnel told Camellia they had to revive Bryant, she said.
“He died, and they brought him back to life,” Camellia Tillman recalled.
But the doctors knew Bryant had severe brain damage.
Bryant Tillman held onto life for about three weeks, his mother said. He died May 31, 2022, in a hospital in Billings, Montana.
Camellia had been to visit him during his stay, but the day the doctor told her Bryant was running out of time, his mother had to settle for a phone call from Fremont County.
“I told him that I loved him. That I will always love him and his brothers and sisters loved him too,” she said. “I told him, ‘You’re no longer gonna be in pain soon.’”
Bryant made noises on the phone, which Camellia said felt like words of understanding.
One year later, no one is in custody or is being held accountable for Bryant Tillman’s death.
It Goes On
The FBI has jurisdiction to investigate most felony-level crimes on the Wind River Indian Reservation, where Tillman was attacked.
Bryant’s mother has theories about who may have beaten him. She also wondered aloud if family ties on the reservation and fears of vengeance are keeping possible witnesses quiet.
Camellia told Cowboy State Daily the attack may have been related to drugs, alcohol or money.
“The only time my son fights is when someone is trying to steal money from him,” she said. “But like I said, there’s no evidence.”
The FBI confirmed to Cowboy State Daily that Tillman’s homicide remains under investigation but did not immediately respond to a follow-up inquiry about why.
The Fremont County Coroner last week released a homicide ledger to Cowboy State Daily, following an information request, noting that Tillman died in Montana of complications of blunt-force injuries.
Camellia Tillman said she hopes police catch the attacker and hold that person accountable.
Bryant was the oldest of Camellia Tillman’s four children, she said, adding that what she misses most is the way he would tease her and joke around.
“I just miss him every day,” she said, beginning to sob. “Not a day goes by where I don’t miss him.”
