PALATKA, Fla. (Court TV) — A Florida woman is heading to prison after a jury rejected her claim that she killed her ex in self-defense and then buried his body in a shallow grave.
Caylen Deller testifies on Oct. 14, 2026. (Court TV)
A jury deliberated for just over one hour before finding Caylen Deller, 32, guilty of first-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence and failure to report a death. Deller testified in her own defense on Wednesday, telling the jury she shot her ex-boyfriend, Chad Mullen, twice because she feared for her life.
Deller testified that she had planned to lend Mullen her truck, but decided to ask him first whether he had molested her 5-year-old daughter. Deller said Mullen, enraged, then attacked her, forcing her to pull a gun to save herself. But after the shooting, instead of calling 911, Deller said she turned to a friend, Tina Marie Lee-Ellis, who suggested they first try to hide Mullen’s body in a pond, weighted down by a cinder block.
Days later, when the body began to float, Deller said she called Lee-Ellis again, and the two removed Mullen from the pond and disposed of his body on a neighboring farm, where they buried him in a shallow grave. Deller’s attorney, Brian Smith, conceded in his closing argument Thursday morning that his client should have called 911 after shooting the victim. “She admitted she was wrong. That was not consciousness of guilt. That was stupidity. That was making things worse. That was an emotional decision,” he said. “That was a decision made after shooting someone to save her own life.”
Assistant state attorney Mark Lewis told the jury on Thursday that Deller’s story simply didn’t make sense. “I submit to you, ladies and gentlemen, when a child is molested, that’s not a little thing. That’s a humongous thing. That’s a big thing. That’s something you call the police for. She’s not Inspector Gadget who’s going to investigate this herself, is she?”
Immediately after the jury found Deller guilty as charged, Judge Alicia Washington moved into sentencing. Mullen’s daughter spoke through tears from the witness stand, talking about the moments with her father she will never have. “I’ve been to two weddings since my dad passed away,” she said. “I watched my friends get walked down the aisle and have their first dance with their dad. It’s something that stays with me. Of course I’m happy for my friends, but it reminds me of something I will never have. I’ll never get to have that moment with my friend.”
Washington had to pause Mullen’s daughter several times after she began to address the defendant directly. “Why? Why did you have to do this? Why did it have to be my dad? Just why?”
Although Deller did not make any statement to the court at sentencing, she took the opportunity to plead no contest to an unrelated charge of theft of agriculture during the hearing. Deller was sentenced to time served to resolve the case, which involved a stolen calf.
Washington sentenced Deller to life without parole for murder, to be served concurrently with 15-year and five-year sentences on the other two charges.
