‘Very paranoid.’ Gig Harbor woman killed boyfriend in front of daughter, 11, charges say
A Gig Harbor woman is accused of fatally shooting her 39-year-old boyfriend last week while three children were inside their home.
Pierce County prosecutors charged Melissa Dawn Wells, 34, with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter, court records show.
A plea of not guilty was entered on Wells’ behalf at her arraignment Monday. Pierce County Superior Court Commissioner Philip Thornton set her bail at $1 million. Wells appeared to be crying and had her head down during most parts of the hearing.
Charging details
Pierce County deputies were dispatched to the 6100 block of Ray Nash Drive Northwest to reports of a shooting June 26. The 911 caller reported they could hear children screaming and yelling and then three to four gunshots, charging documents show.
The caller, which was Wells’ 11-year-old daughter, reported that her mom shot her stepfather in the mouth. The child said her mother was an alcoholic who was suffering from a panic attack at the time. She reported her mother was drunk and had been paranoid for two days. She said her mom needed to go to jail, prosecutors wrote.
The child said that Wells ran down the driveway and was out of sight. Deputies drove around the neighborhood. They found and detained Wells who was barefoot.
Wells’ daughter and her younger cousins were at the home, and the victim was lying on the ground, face down. He was declared deceased at the scene. Prosecutors said during Wells’ arraignment that one of the children had blood splatters on their coat.
The deputies who detained Wells said she seemed to be in a psychosis and was “very paranoid.” She allegedly told deputies that she was given unknown pills that made her feel that way, documents show.
Wells later told deputies that her boyfriend bought cocaine about four to six hours earlier. She snorted the cocaine and felt paranoid, so the victim gave her three unknown pills for her anxiety, prosecutors wrote. She took the pills, but they made her more anxious and paranoid.
Wells claimed she thought there was an unknown person in her house. The victim suggested they leave so she could get some air. She said they went to the car but forgot the keys so they went back inside the house. She said the victim had a handgun he was waving around, and she also had a gun because she was paranoid, prosecutors wrote.
She then brought her gun up and allegedly fired one shot towards the victim. After firing the gun, Wells said she ran outside and fired two more shots. Wells said she knocked on her neighbors’ doors, but no one answered. One neighbor confirmed that was true, documents show.
The handgun was found in a ditch along a path Wells took after she ran off. Wells admitted to tossing the gun after leaving the house, prosecutors wrote.
Wells was interviewed a second time by detectives and allegedly said that she thought there was an unknown person inside her home. She said she thought that because the lights in her bedroom flickered at one point, prosecutors wrote.
Wells said she and the victim had been drinking that day, and she also snorted two bumps of cocaine. She stated she felt paranoid and strange, prosecutors wrote.
She claimed that her uneasiness made the children scared, and she confirmed that she was armed due to her fears. Right before the shooting, Wells said, the victim was waving his gun around and she thought he was pointing it at someone. She denied he pointed it at her, prosecutors wrote.
Wells claimed that she fired once in the direction that the victim was pointing his gun. She did not know she struck him and ran to the driveway, yelling for help. She said she did not intend to shoot her boyfriend, indicating she thought she was “shooting with him at an unknown threat inside the residence,” documents show.
Prosecutors say the trajectory of the bullets contradicts Wells’ statement that the victim was facing away from her when she fired the gun. Her daughter also told detectives her mom jumped onto the victim’s back and the two of them wrestled around. It was then when the shot was fired from Wells’ gun.
Prosecutors wrote that Wells was arrested in February 2024 for carrying a concealed pistol without a permit.
