PALATKA, Fla. — Opening statements and witness testimony began Tuesday in the trial of Caylen Deller, a Putnam County woman accused of killing her boyfriend in 2024 and burying his body in a shallow grave in a Hastings potato field.
Deller’s defense attorneys chose to reserve their opening statement until after the state rests its case.
Prosecutors told jurors that Deller lured Chad Mullen to horse stables in September 2024.
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The state alleges Deller shot Mullen at the stables, used a horse to drag his body to a nearby pond and tied a cinder block to his limb to submerge him.
Prosecutors said Deller and a friend returned days later and moved the body to the Hastings potato farm, where it was eventually found.
Prosecutors also said Deller made frantic phone calls to two friends in the days after the shooting. One call was to her ex-partner, with whom she shares a child. The state claims she confessed to him that she killed Mullen because she believed he had inappropriately touched her daughter.
As the trial moves forward, Action News Jax will continue to provide updates. If you wish to watch the trial live, click the link below.
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