VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A woman was sentenced to 31 years in prison after fatally shooting her boyfriend at a Red Roof Inn in 2020, the Virginia Beach Commonwealth's Attorney announced Thursday.
Melissa Diaz, 45, was convicted on charges of second-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, concealing a dead body, and physically defiling a dead human body.
Diaz shot and killed her boyfriend, Steven Wynn, at the Red Roof Inn on Ballard Court on Feb. 5, 2020, according to the Virginia Beach Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney.
Evidence presented in the case showed that the couple had been arguing in the days leading up to the shooting.
After the shooting, Diaz called a friend to help move Wynn's body. Diaz, her friend and two other people in the hotel parking lot helped move Wynn’s body into Diaz’s car after she told them the body was a grandfather clock, the office said.
One of the people who helped questioned whether they moved a clock or a body and left a message for the hotel's management, who notified the police.
Police went to Diaz's home on Feb. 9, 2020, to arrest her, but she was hiding in the attic and Wynn's body was still in the car. She had posted messages from Wynn’s social media to make it appear that he was still alive.
The Virginia Beach Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney said Diaz admitted to police that she killed Wynn.
The jury in the four-day trial fixed Diaz's punishment at 31 years in prison, which Circuit Court Judge Kevin M. Duffan imposed Thursday.
