PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — A Putnam County woman was found guilty by a jury on Thursday on all counts in the 2024 murder of her ex-boyfriend.
Investigators say Caylen Deller killed her ex-boyfriend Chad Mullen and burying him in a shallow grave in a potato field in Hastings.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
Jurors got the case just before noon on Thursday, after closing arguments and jury instructions. The verdict was read in court around 1:10 p.m.
She was found guilty on the following counts:
- First-degree murder
- Tampering with evidence
- Failure to report death of a person
Deller was sentenced to life in prison on the first count, 15 years on the second count, and 5 years on the third count. Those will run concurrently, the judge said.
Action News Jax streamed verdict LIVE on our YouTube page. You can watch it below:
Deller took the stand on Wednesday
Deller told jurors she was acting in self-defense when she shot and killed Chad Mullen on September 9, 2024.
She argued she took Mullen to Stormy Stables, her horse stables, so he could borrow and fix her truck. After he finished fixing the headlight, she said she asked him whether he had inappropriately touched her daughter. She backtracked on that claim in court today while being cross-examined.
Deller testified that Mullen then became angry and physical, choking her to the point that she could not breathe. “I had shot him. I just knew he had stopped coming toward me, and I was able to get away,” Deller said.
When asked why she shot Mullen, Deller replied, “Because he was choking me, and he came at me with a hammer.”
Deller testified that she did not know whether she had hit Mullen and thought he might have gotten up and walked away after she left. However, he was lying on the ground when she came back.
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
Deller did not call police. Instead, she went to her friend Tina Lee Ellis’ house and said Ellis told her not to call police because Ellis told her police would not believe it was self-defense.
Deller said she used a four-wheeler to drag Mullen’s body to a nearby pond, where she tied a cinder block to him. After his body resurfaced, Deller said she called Ellis again and they decided to move the body.
Assistant State Attorney Mark Johnson, the prosecutor, asked Deller why she did not call police after getting into her truck.
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
“Like I said, I was just trying to get somewhere safe,” Deller answered.
Johnson challenged that response, saying Deller had testified she was trying to get her daughter and believed Mullen might have walked away without a vehicle. The state pointed out that Deller and Ellis drove around with Mullen’s phone after the shooting.
Deller also told jurors she burned Mullen’s phone in the fireplace because she panicked. The state also brought up that Deller lied to Mullen’s ex-partner when she reached out about his whereabouts.
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
