Phoenix woman who shot husband, then lit cigarette, sentenced to 20 years

The Arizona Republic/March 3, 2017

By Alden Woods

The dead man’s family argued the deal wasn’t enough punishment and the defendant's team claimed it was too much, but an agreement had already been reached before a Maricopa County Superior Court judge sentenced Rebekah Mellon Friday morning to 20 years in prison for killing her husband.

Mellon, 36, pleaded guilty last month in the 2012 death of Donald Mellon Jr.  She shot him and lit a cigarette as he lay dying in their central Phoenix home, events that were captured on video. The plea deal dropped her charge to second-degree murder and allowed Rebekah to avoid a potentially months-long trial in which her violent marriage would have played a central role.

The plea agreement contained a sentencing range of 18 to 22 years. After an hour of final testimony from family members, including a last-minute apology from Mellon herself, Judge Pamela Gates issued a sentence down the middle.

“I watched as you sat on the sofa, slowly smoking a cigarette, patiently waiting as Mr. Mellon died,” Gates said as Mellon stood before her. “The harm is enormous.”

Surveillance cameras in the Mellons’ home recorded video of the shooting, in which Donald Mellon was on the phone, trying to call his daughter, as Rebekah walked into the room, aimed a gun and fired. That footage almost certainly would have been played in a trial.

Had the case gone to trial, Mellon’s argument would have focused on her husband’s history of abuse. Rebekah claimed the shooting was in self-defense. She told police Donald was always jealous, that he took control of her world, that he hit her, choked her, threw her to the ground. Twice, police arrested him on assault charges. “He’s gonna kill me,” Rebekah Mellon told police after the second arrest.

In her request for the 18-year minimum, Mellon said she had no memory of the 23 minutes between the shooting and her 911 call. After shooting her husband, Rebekah lit a cigarette and sat on the sofa as he lay dying.

She claimed her husband had threatened to hire somebody to kill her and make it look like a botched robbery.

The Mellons fought most of July 31, 2012. A friend said Rebekah had been drinking. Rebekah told police Donald had thrown her across the room that afternoon.

That evening, Rebekah claimed, her husband tossed her a gun from his safe.

“What’s this for?” she said she remembered asking him.

“You never know when you might need it,” he allegedly replied.

Mellon told the judge she feared her husband was on the phone to start the fake robbery. She said she remembered picking up a gun, walking into the room and firing.

The rest, she claimed, she didn’t remember.

Prosecutors argued Mellon’s memory lapse was a convenient excuse for what had been a calculated killing. The state admitted the Mellons’ marriage had been violent, but argued she was to blame.

One after another, Donald Mellon’s family stepped up to claim much of the same. They described Donald as the brother they grew up with, the man who loved everybody, the father taken from his children.

“Today, you will give the defendant a date to circle on the calendar that she will be free,” Donald’s brother, Derrick Mellon, told the court. “Sadly, none of our family will ever again be able to circle a date on the calendar that we will see Donny.”

The state and family asked Gates to issue the maximum 22-year sentence. Rebekah’s family asked for the minimum of 18 years.

As the two sides of his family fought over the length of his mother’s sentence for killing his father, Thaddeus Mellon silently filled three pages of a notebook. Rebekah’s lawyer called him up to speak, and Thaddeus, 16, worked his way through the divide.

“What I have to deal with is family versus family,” he said. Everybody in the courtroom had lost a family member. Thaddeus had lost two. His father died that night and his mother was arrested, and the two sides of his family pulled apart, fighting over who was to blame. “I’m the only one totally left alone.” He asked the judge to give Rebekah the minimum sentence.

Finally the time came, and Rebekah shuffled to the podium. The metal restraints wrapped around her jangled with each step.

Pleading for leniency, Rebekah recounted her entire marriage: meeting Donald, the drinking, the cycle of abuse and apologies.

"I wanted to believe the best of him. I loved him," she said. "All I can say is I’m so unbelievably sorry."

As Gates issued the 20-year sentence, Thaddeus hung his head between his knees. Behind him, Rebekah’s family held each other and sobbed. On the other side of the courtroom, Donald’s family filed out.

As the bailiff led Rebekah out of the courtroom, she tried to move toward her son. “I love you,” she mouthed. “I love you.” She kept her eyes on him until the door shut behind her.