On June 10, 2017, 40-year-old Chason Montez-DeOca was killed by his 31-year-old girlfriends, Laura Messick. She had a long and colorful criminal history already, including a 2015 arrest for DUI with children in the car along with a pistol and some cocaine. Laura claimed self-defense. They were having an argument because he had retrieved her from a local bar and made her come home. According to her own testimony, she shot him through the chest and then slashed his throat in an effort to ensure his death. Prosecutors claimed it was not self defense because the bullet went through his outstretched palm first. Once arrested, Laura told her cellmate what she had done and she later testified against her. Chason was an Army vet and his surviving family members are friends with the cellmates family. Some believe there is reason to doubt her testimony. Laura asked her judge instead of her jury to decide her punishment when she was found guilty. She received a life sentence, which is wha