PROVO, Utah (Court TV) — A Utah woman has avoided a trial after pleading guilty to three charges connected to the death of her husband.
Provo home where police said Melissa Johnson-Fausett shot and killed her husband for allegedly attacking her. (KSTU)
Melissa Johnson-Fausett, 58, pleaded guilty on Monday to an amended charge of murder, felony discharge of a firearm and obstruction of justice in the death of Corry Fausett, 55.
On Jan. 6, 2024, Johnson-Fausett called 911 and said that she had shot her husband at their Provo home. She claimed to have shot the victim with a gun that was lying on her bed until it jammed.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found two guns; the second was found in a purse hidden beneath some clothing. Johnson-Fausett said that the gun was inoperative and said she didn’t use it. When questioned about blood found on that gun, she told the police that it was “from hunting rabbits.”
DNA analysis matched the blood found on that hidden gun to the victim. An autopsy revealed that Fausett had been shot four times: once in his left side/back area and three times in the head. While the shot to his side matched the gun found on the couple’s bed, the three shots to his head were linked to the second weapon. Investigators said at least one of the shots to the victim’s head was “administered where he lay in the hallway.”
Johnson-Fausett had initially claimed to officers on the scene that her husband had attacked her and she had been in fear for her life when she opened fire.
Johnson-Fausett’s trial had been scheduled to start on May 6; her sentencing is now set for May 26.
The defendant’s guilty plea did not include a set sentence. Court documents reviewed by Court TV indicate that for murder she faces 2-20 years; for discharge of a firearm she faces five years to life; for obstruction of justice she could be sentenced from 1-15 years.
