Tiffany Woods spent her last moments running down the street in Hammond screaming for her life before her ex-husband Allen Oscar Woods shot her dead on Dec. 27, court records allege.
Court filings show he has not been apprehended. Hammond Police said he was last seen in Chicago, according to a news release. A spokeswoman for the Lake County Sheriff’s Office was not immediately available Thursday night.
Woods, 39, of Hammond and formerly Houston, was charged Dec. 28 with her murder. A lawyer has not yet been assigned.
He was also charged twice in 2022 with stalking cases after a string of violent threats, following their early 2021 divorce, filings show.
“We are committed to ensuring justice is served in this case,” Hammond Police Chief William Short said in a statement. “Our officers and detectives worked diligently to gather evidence and secure the necessary charges.”
In the first stalking case, Allen told her in February 2022 that he would hop a flight from Texas to “shoot up” her Hammond home and “kill everyone inside,” an affidavit states.
“I can’t wait to get to you cause I’m going to torture you, I can’t wait to see you flat line, I’m going to get someone to kidnap you and bring you to me,” he said.
On March 28, 2022, he got mad about texts at their daughter’s birthday party, ripped a picture off the wall, threw and shattered the TV screen, knocked a side table over, then kept slamming Tiffany’s head into closet doors. Her mother called the cops, then tried to cancel when it appeared he calmed down.
He ripped another TV off the wall after the cops showed up. Several children were in the house.
Cops were called in May 2022 when Allen threatened Tiffany with a murder-suicide. Allen’s relative told police he threatened to shoot up both theirs and Tiffany’s homes, later saying the relative was on Tiffany’s side.
In one message, Allen wrote to Tiffany, “… don’t worry I’ll make sure you make the 7 a.m. news all over the world,” the document states.
Allen allegedly Facetimed his daughter, telling her he was on a plane from Houston to kill Tiffany and himself, then showed a gun on the call, according to the affidavit.
Tiffany told investigators in 2022 Allen threatened her at least 20 times via text or Facebook and 200 times over the phone since they split and divorced. She was in “constant fear.”
Allen also allegedly texted her insurance policies he took out on her, so their kids had “money” after he killed her.
In the second stalking case, Tiffany told cops Allen chased her in a vehicle on Sept. 22, 2022 from Village Discount, 2706 165th Street, in Hammond before ramming her white Kia Optima into a pole on the 6700 block of Columbia Avenue. Allen laughed at her.
After her Dec. 27, 2024 murder, a witness told investigators that Allen threatened to kill Tiffany multiple times because she “wrecked his life,” the affidavit states. Allen said it just the day before.
Hammond Police responded at 2:22 p.m. Dec. 27 to Cleveland Street and the Jackson Avenue alley.
Witnesses waved cops to Tiffany, 39, of Hammond, shot in the head, lying in the middle of Cleveland Street. Allen jogged to her white Kia parked in front of his relative’s home and fled on Kenwood Street.
Allen called relatives and said he killed his ex-wife, according to the affidavit.
Witnesses said Allen ran, chasing her south while opening fire twice on the 6300 block of Jackson Avenue.
“HELP,” Tiffany screamed.
They rounded east onto Cleveland Street where he shot at her again, records show. Witnesses said he stood over her and fired a couple more shots around 4 p.m.; it was an “execution-style” killing, Hammond Det. Michael Elkmann wrote.
Security cameras showed them running, but didn’t capture the shooting. It recorded nine shots.
Cops obtained a picture showing a man standing over her with a red “puffy” jacket, grey sweatpants and red, white and black hightop sneakers.
Police feared Allen could have been holding children hostage in the relatives’ home before the shooting. They only found one man in the basement, who said he and Allen spent the night in a Munster hotel after Allen argued with his mom. Allen slept with a gun, according to the affidavit.
Ring videos showed Allen wore similar clothes to the shooter.
In November 2021, his father, Allen Woods, Jr., got probation for a shooting.
Trying to get his son — the younger Allen O. Woods — under control after a “domestic incident” on March 28, 2021 involving the son’s ex-wife, the father fired off warning shots that struck his son and nephew.
The older man was at first charged with attempted murder, among other counts. At the sentencing hearing, the elder Woods’ family — including his son’s ex-wife — showed up en masse to plead his case.
They told Judge Salvador Vasquez that the son was the problem that day. Several family members said Woods went to control his son that day who had been allegedly attacking his ex-wife after a birthday party for their 6-year-old daughter.
After listening, Vasquez gave the elder Woods a break — probation. Just outside the courtroom, after it was clear the elder man would avoid prison, the woman appeared to make a prayer gesture in relief.
