The mother of teen baseball star Grant Solomon, who mysteriously died in 2020, pleads not guilty in a murder-for-hire plot against her TV anchor ex-husband in court this week.
Angelia, ‘Angie’ Solomon, 55, who was arrested on April 11 after she was reportedly caught by an undercover cop posing as a hitman, appeared in the Williamson County Court on Tuesday.
Dressed in an orange jumpsuit and looking somber, she faced Judge M.T. Taylor as she entered her plea after she was charged for solicitation to commit first-degree murder.
During the court proceeding, an audio recording was played revealing the conversation Angie had with an undercover cop posing as a hitman who was an agent from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI).
She told the hired gun she wanted make her ex ‘disappear and be put underground,’ for allegedly abusing her children and her. She also alleged her ex-husband killed their 18-year-old son, Grant Solomon.
Aaron, who had been in the courtroom with what appeared to be his attorney, watched intently as the two undercover agents from the TBI, a detective from the Franklin County Police Department and Angie’s close friend Melanie Hicks testified.
At one point Angie grew emotional as she glanced at her 18-year-old daughter Gracie who appeared visibly upset, as she was seated in the back of the courtroom.
The judge lowered Angie’s bond to $250,000, from it’s initial amount of $500,000. She was also ordered to house arrest only to come to court and prohibited to used any internet or cell phone.
As of Thursday afternoon, it was unclear if Solomon will make that bond, but her daughter Gracie started a fundraiser to help her mom.
Angelia ‘Angie’ Solomon, 55, has pleaded not guilty to the charges of solicitation to commit first-degree murder
Angelia is pictured with her daughter Gracie, now 18, and late son Grant, aged 18, who died mysteriously on July 20, 2020
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation was assisting the Franklin Police Department, who is the lead on the case.
On April 11, the day of Angie’s arrest, she had met up with the alleged hitman around 2pm in the parking lot of the CoolSprings Galleria Mall in Franklin, Tennessee.
Angelia allegedly informed the ‘hitman’ where her ex might be and confided in him that she wanted Aaron ‘gone’ so that Gracie could receive a trust fund.
At one point she asked if she was being recorded but the agent reassured her to trust him. When the agent said, ‘What do you want done? What do you want me to do to him?’
Angie said, ‘I want you to do whatever you do knowing someone raped and sodomized my girl before she could remember and whatever you could do to a man who took his own beautiful 18-year-old son out to a very, very remote location -hit him over the head with the tools – baseball bat and stand at the top of the hill and watch him die under his truck.’
The undercover cop told her, ‘I have a few ideas,’ and than told her that ‘something like this was about $5,000.’
When the agent asked her, ‘can you go to an ATM or give me anything now?’ She responded that she was ‘broke.’
When he asked if she has ‘any jewelry or anything of value.’ She told him that she had ‘sold everything’ she owns.
That is when Angie gave him her car registration as an initial collateral payment and promising more cash.
At one point on the audio, Angie is heard telling the agent that her daughter Gracie lives in fear of her father and that her daughter described her own father as ‘a cross between Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy.’
Grant Solomon, 18, star baseball player, who was starting his senior year of high school, died in in a tragic accident on July 20, 2020
Grant was a gifted athlete who played baseball and basketball
Grant was also a standout basketball player
Angie was heard crying in the audio at times and called herself ‘a very naive person.’
During the exchange she alleged to the informant that her ex had guns and drugs in the condo and if the confidential informant wanted any of his belongings.
Solomon described what she was doing as ‘vigilante justice of the olden days.’
Detective Kyle Brink with the Franklin Police Department said that she had considered having two other individuals killed as part of the murder for hire plot.
Those individuals were not named but Brink said they were warned beforehand, as per Nashville 5.
Melanie Hicks, a close friend has broken her silence with a string of eerie claims in an interview with the Daily Mail this week.
Hicks, who said she has known Angelia for years, claimed her alleged actions were ‘completely out of character’ and that ‘she would never jeopardize her daughter’s safety’. Her daughter, Gracie, is now 18.
Angie sitting in the courtroom flanked by her public defenders as one of the TBI agents testify
Ex-husband and former TV news anchor Aaron Solomon sits in the courtroom taking notes
Hicks expressed her frustration that news outlets are only focusing on the arrest and not the back story of Grant’s mysterious death.
Hicks said: ‘There is overwhelming support of people saying please share the whole back story. People are frustrated.’
The former couple’s son, Grant, was killed on July 20, 2020, when his own truck rolled backwards over him at the side of the road.
The promising high school senior had been on his way to meet his father for a private pitching session at Ward Performance Institute, a baseball training facility in Gallatin, approximately 50 miles from his home in Franklin, Tennessee.
But less than ten minutes after he arrived, Aaron called 911 and said his son was trapped under his white Toyota pick-up truck at the foot of a ditch.
Police later ruled the incident a freak accident but Angelia remained suspicious and claimed there had been no proper police investigation or autopsy.
She even hired private investigator Dan Hodges, who had worked with the FBI for 30 years, to launch an investigation.
Hodges claimed ‘it was impossible for Grant Solomon to die without assistance’.
Hicks told the Daily Mail the family obtained the black box recorded on Grant’s vehicle. The black box showed the truck had been placed in park, and the gas pedal was shown at various speeds that, Hicks claimed, goes against Aaron’s narrative of the truck rolling backwards down the hill.
‘The black box evidence could be a game changer in the case,’ Hicks revealed.
Grant’s father, Aaron Solomon, a former news anchor, at WSMV Channel 4
‘How did the truck get into park while Grant was underneath it?’ Hicks questioned.
‘The family questions if the truck was staged on top of Grant,’ she said.
‘The truck did not appear to have malfunctioned as Aaron drove it for months after Grant’s alleged accident,’ she added.
Sumner County District Attorney, Ray Whitley, told the Daily Mail in February 2024 that Grant’s death was an accident and that it would not be reopening the investigation again.
‘It’s been looked into and the investigation has been reopened before. There is no basis for a homicide charge or no criminal act here,’ he said.
‘It is just a horrible accident, and I am really sorry that it happened, but it’s not a criminal case so there is nothing we are are going to go forward with.’
Angelia and Aaron have been divorced for 10 years at the time of Grant’s death and both children were living with their mother.
Angelia has previously alleged that she and her children suffered years of abuse that has been cited in court documents. Aaron has emphatically denied the claims.
When Grant turned 18, Angie claimed her son was planning to expose his father’s alleged abuse but, less than a month after his birthday, he died.
Gracie, now 18, also accused her father of historic sex abuse in a YouTube video published in May 2021 when she was just 14.
A street view of the Ward Performance Institute, the baseball training facility where Grant was traveling to meet his father
The scene of the accident where Grant’s white Toyota Tacoma pickup truck rolled over him
Grant’s pickup truck is pictured in a gravel ditch. The incident report indicated that the point of first impact was the rear end of the vehicle and the car had functional damage
Aaron has never been charged with any crimes. He currently resides in Tennessee and works as a senior financial analyst for Merrill Lynch.
He has not responded to Daily Mail’s requests for comment.
Last week, there were reports that two anonymous witnesses to Grant’s accident had come forward a year ago, claiming they saw what happened.
But Hicks said: ‘The two men said they were driving on Highway 109 in Gallatin Tennessee, and saw the Toyota Tacoma “flying” through the air, saw Grant get swept under the truck and saw him under the truck like a “pretzel”.
‘As you can imagine, this news was hard for Angie to comprehend, and friends and family have some serious questions. First, why are these two men remaining anonymous in the case of an “accidental” death?’
Hicks alleged that ‘the two men would not agree to speak directly to Angie’. She said this has led family and friends to question if they are legitimate witnesses.
She also claimed that ‘portions of their story don’t make sense’.
‘Is it logistically possible for the Toyota Tacoma to go airborne at anytime while rolling down the incline outside Ward Performance Center?’ Hicks asked.
‘The men claim they saw Grant get swept under the truck. Grant was 6’4 so how did he get swept under the moving truck, take flight, and land in a ditch?’
‘Grant’s body didn’t have any significant abrasions and no broken bones? Yet, the men claim they saw Grant under the truck like a ‘pretzel,’ she continued.
‘An accident reconstruction would easily reveal what happened but Gallatin TN PD over the past four plus years refuse to reopen the investigation to make it possible. It would also be a way to verify the stories of the anonymous witnesses,’ she said.
Angelia is pictured smiling with her late son Grant
Grant smiles as his girlfriend (not pictured) pins a white boutonniere to his jacket
Angelia is pictured with her daughter Gracie, dressed up for prom, weeks before her arrest
A report by the Gallatin PD reviewed by the Daily Mail stated that Grant was struck by his own vehicle and that the first point of impact was the rear end of the vehicle that sustained functional damage.
‘Vehicle one was stopped in the parking lot 1357 Highway 109 South. The owner of vehicle one, exited the truck and was subsequently struck by the truck as it rolled down the parking lot,’ it said.
‘Vehicle one drug the owner into the drainage ditch where it came to rest. The owner was trapped underneath.’
Grant’s death certificate lists the cause of death as multiple blunt force trauma and states that he was run over by an automobile.
The manner was reported as accidental. Grant died at 9.26am on July 20, 2020, at Sumner Regional Medical Center in Gallatin.
The Gallatin Police Department told the Daily Mail that the Grant Solomon case ‘is a closed investigation’.
‘The facts of this case do not support that a crime was committed,’ Gallatin PD PIO Michael Carman wrote in an email statement.
‘This was a very tragic accident and our thoughts remain with the family of the young man who lost his life.’
A sketch of the scene of the crash that shows Grants truck off State Highway 109 in Gallatin
Aaron gave a statement to the Gallatin Police Department
Grant suffered from blunt force trauma indicated on medical document
But Hicks said: ‘The only significant injury that Grant had was blunt force trauma to the back of the head.
‘Family and friends feel that once again the Gallatin PD failed to properly verify these statements in any way. And no one has been held accountable.’
Hicks, who has been at Angie’s side for many years, said she will continue to stand by her friend as she seeks justice for her son.
She said Angie is relying heavily on her faith, calling it her ‘rock.’
‘She always said God will handle it. I have faith in him,’ she added.
