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Name: Toby "TJ" Jarvis Age: 32 years old Gender: Non-binary, they/them Occupation: Tattoo Artist Faceclaim: Naomi McPherson Height: 5'9 Build: Long, slender Sexuality: Queer Smokes: Yes Drinks: Yes Tattoos: Random patchwork tattoos on arms Piercings: Ears, sometimes nose
BIOGRAPHY (tw: murder, imprisonment, police misconduct, racism, transphobia)
Toby was always something of a weird kid. They watched The Exorcist and Nightmare on Elm Street way too young, could recount Halloween shot by shot. They wanted to dress up as Ghostface or Jason Voorhees, checked out books about death at the local library, drew artwork of skulls, graves, animal bones. It was a harmless interest, or so their parents thought.
Toby never liked their name, and from a young age they started going by Toby Jarvis, partly because they liked the sound and partially inspired by one of their favorite horror protagonists, Tommy Jarvis from the Friday the 13th Franchise.
In their senior year of high school, TJ fell in love. They were an odd couple, the artsy kid who was a little too enthusiastic about Edgar Allen Poe, and the captain of the cheerleadering squad, but they worked. TJ's girlfriend Hayley was a well-respected straight-A student on track to do great things, and she supported Toby's artistic endeavors, but high school was rarely a place where life long commitments were made, and the two had a messy break up, just as teenagers do.
When Hayley disappeared shortly after the break-up, and her body was found a few days later, it was almost inevitable that Toby get the blame. They were just about every kind of outsider; queer, trans, biracial. Stoned and alone at the time of the death, Toby was left without an alibi, and under local pressure to solve the case, the cops cut corners, twisting the evidence to fit Toby into the role of villain. They twisted Toby's interest in horror, their quirkiness, their drug use, all of it to fit a narrative that suited their agenda. And it worked. At eighteen years old, Toby was sentenced to life in prison.
Some of the other inmates and guards had a soft spot for them because they were mostly well-behaved, respectful, hard-working, so they were treated relatively well, all things considered, but prison was still no place for a teenager. Some of the things they witnessed and personally experienced still keep TJ up at night. They did whatever programs and education they could, the only real rules they broke involving learning to tattoo with ink and tools made from contraband and practicing on the other inmates.
On the outside, their family never stopped fighting for their innocence, and after enough pressure, a media campaign, and advocates fighting for reform, they managed to have evidence re-tested, have the case re-investigated. It was discovered that the police had ignored evidence that pointed to TJ's innocence, failing to turn it over to the defense, and that they had failed to test critical evidence which came back linked to a drifter who'd been jailed for another murder in Pennsylvania some years after Hayley's death. Their conviction was overturned, and TJ was able to go home.
Upon their release, Toby sued the state of Texas for the police misconduct in their case, receiving a hefty settlement. They put the money towards buying a little place for themselves, supporting themselves during a tattoo apprenticeship, the legal fees associated with changing their legal name and documents, and top surgery. They bought a tattoo shop they called Altered Ego, and Toby was given a chance to start fresh, to try to put the pieces back together after a decade behind bars.
