A Florida woman said she shot her ex in self-defense and hid his body in a pond, and the jury took just over an hour to convict her

Caylen Deller is heading to prison for life after a Florida jury rejected her self-defense claims and found her guilty of first-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence, and failure to report a death. The jury deliberated for just over one hour before reaching its decision in Palatka, Florida.

As reported by Court TV, Deller, 32, took the stand to explain the events that led to the death of her ex-boyfriend, Chad Mullen. She testified that she had intended to lend Mullen her truck but decided to confront him about whether he had molested her five-year-old daughter.

Deller claimed that Mullen became enraged and attacked her, and she said she pulled a gun to save her own life. She testified that she shot Mullen twice during the encounter.

Prosecutors questioned why she never called the police

Instead of calling 911, Deller admitted she reached out to a friend, Tina Marie Lee-Ellis. Deller said Lee-Ellis suggested they hide Mullen’s body in a pond by weighting it down with a cinder block.

The plan failed when the body began to float. Deller said she contacted Lee-Ellis again, and that the two women moved Mullen to a neighboring farm, where they buried him in a shallow grave.

During closing arguments, defense attorney Brian Smith acknowledged that his client failed to contact authorities. “She admitted she was wrong,” he told the jury, adding, “That was not consciousness of guilt. That was stupidity.”

Smith argued that the decision to hide the body came after Deller had already acted to save her own life. Deller is not the only Florida woman to argue self-defense after a fatal shooting, as a rapper’s Stand Your Ground claim shows.

Assistant state attorney Mark Lewis pointed out inconsistencies in Deller’s account during his closing argument. He told the jury that a child being molested is “something you call the police for.” He then asked, “She’s not Inspector Gadget who’s going to investigate this herself, is she?”

Following the guilty verdict, Judge Alicia Washington proceeded directly to sentencing. Mullen’s daughter spoke from the witness stand about losing her father, saying, “I’ve been to two weddings since my dad passed away.” She described watching her friends share a first dance with their fathers, a moment she said she will never have.

The judge paused the proceedings several times as Mullen’s daughter addressed Deller directly. “Why did it have to be my dad?” she asked.

Deller did not make a statement during sentencing. She pleaded no contest to an unrelated charge involving the theft of a calf, and Judge Washington sentenced her to time served for that offense.

For the murder charge, Deller received life without parole. That sentence will run concurrently with 15-year and five-year sentences for tampering with evidence and failing to report a death.