Man who went viral for tattooing his wife's face to his back allegedly strangles her to death

A pregnant mother was found dead on Wednesday at the bottom of a basement staircase inside her Brooklyn home and cops suspect her husband is responsible for her death.

Tonie Wells, 22, whose husband Barry Wells tattooed her face on his back in September this year, was found dead inside the three-story Crown Heights brownstone at about 10 a.m. after police received a 911 call, cops said. The cries of the couple's toddler steered police to the body of her mother.


Police sources say her husband of just nine months, Barry Wells, pushed her down the stairs before fleeing the home, leaving their daughter with the dead body.

“It was him,” the dead woman’s sister told the Daily News. “It wasn’t an accident. It was definitely him.”

It was unclear how long Tonie Wells’ body was inside the house alone with the 2-year-old girl, whose cries led a neighbor to call the cops. After neighbours heard the child's cry, they realized they hadn’t seen the young mom in some time so they decided to get the cops involved..

When the cops arrived, they found bruises on the dead woman’s neck leading them to believe she wasn't only pushed down the stairs but was also strangled.

Barry Wells looked to the world like a doting husband and father. He went viral some months back after he tattooed his wife's face on his back. He also has a tattoo of his daughter's face on his chest.
At the time, Barry,  who is a fitness enthusiast and a tattoo lover, shared a photo of his back with the new tattoo and explained why he got it.
"I wasn't gonna post anything until our anniversary, BUT you let the cat out the bag. Early Anniversary gift, plus it's Wednesday. #WellsWay," he captioned the photo.

On Facebook, he also painted the picture of a caring husband. One of his Facebook posts was of him advising other men to treat the mothers of their kids with respect.

“Especially if you have a daughter,” he wrote in October 2016. “She gonna grow up believing it’s okay to be treated that way!”

Tonie Wells was recently pregnant, but suffered a miscarriage after a domestic quarrel, a cousin told the Daily News. A police source said Wells was eight months pregnant when she lost her baby last month.

Neighbour, Beverly Miller said she was about to walk her dog when she heard the news. She didn’t recall witnessing any kind of issues between the newlyweds.

“They seemed like a pleasant family,” she said. “They would do the laundry together.”

Investigators are treating the death as a possible homicide, Deputy Chief Michael Kemper, Commanding Officer of Detective Borough Brooklyn North told reporters.

Sources say cops are “actively looking for” Wells’ 29-year-old husband, Barry Wells, for questioning.

“Witnesses heard an argument and something falling down the stairs,” a high-ranking police source said.