The Oprah Winfrey Network's (OWN) hit Reality TV series "Welcome to Sweetie Pie's" has returned for another season fresh off a devastating loss earlier this spring. Fraught with raw emotion, Robbie Montgomery and family continue to struggle dealing with the senseless killing of her 21-year-old grandson Andre Montgomery. Andre, who often appeared in past episodes as the mischievous teenage implant from Texas, was gunned down by an unknown assailant on March 14, 2016.
According to a St. Louis Metropolitan Police report, officers responded to a shooting call to the 3900 block of Natural Bridge Road on that date around 8:00 p.m.
When the police arrived, they found an unconscious Andre Montgomery suffering from gunshot wounds. He would later be pronounced dead at the scene with Miss Robbie having to identify his body at the county morgue. Ironically, the house where Andre died is located practically across the street from the home where his grandmother grew up, separated by a small fishing pond.
More than a fair share of family heartache
Sadly, the young man's father Andre Senior was Miss Robbie's oldest son and he too lost his life after being gunned down in the street in 1997. Only an infant at the time, the son never got the chance to know his father. There is actually one episode from a previous season showing a clip of Miss Robbie and her grandson visiting the grave of Andre Senior.
At one point during the show's most recent episode, it was revealed that Miss Robbie's sister Linda lost her own son, an innocent bystander, to gun violence in 2001. Incidentally, Miss Robbie and her son Tim are strong advocates for sensible gun control. Their stance comes in light of the shooting deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, their own loved ones, and victims from around the nation.
Cooking with tough love and determined perseverance
Robbie Montgomery, a former back-up singer for Ike and Tina Turner, knows life must still go on despite its rough setbacks. Thanks to locals and busloads of hungry patrons traveling from all across the country stopping by regularly for some home cooking, Miss Robbie’s second career is a huge success.
The St. Louis queen of soul food continues to build her restaurant empire with several locations in the St. Louis and Los Angeles areas. Though they may bicker, with Miss Robbie using language saltier than a herring at times, this celebrity family sticks together closer than sweet honey on a comb. Tune in to episodes of "Welcome to Sweetie Pie's" (which was named for her late son), Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. EST on OWN.
