SHE SHOT HER HUSBAND TO DEATH ON VALENTINE’S DAY. THEN, SHE TOLD HER FRIENDS, “HE GOT WHAT HE DESERVED.”

A Pennsylvania woman fatally shot her estranged husband on Valentine’s Day. Now, she will remain behind bars for life.  

Lancaster County Judge Merrill Spahn handed Danielle Bewley, 30, a life term in prison without the possibility of parole for the shooting death of her husband, Mitchell Bewley. After a five-day bench trial, Bewley was found guilty and convicted of first-degree murder.

“The decisions you’ve made have left nothing but loss, heartache, and despair,” stated Spahn, according to LancasterOnline.

Around 5:30 pm, on Feb. 14, 2021, Strasburg Police Department responded to a 911 call at the parking lot of a PNC Bank, where they found 27-year-old Mitchell Bewleys body with multiple gunshot wounds to his torso. According to investigators, the defendant lured her estranged husband to the parking lot and shot him five times before fleeing the scene.

Then, Bewley’s former boyfriend alerted authorities of the defendant’s intention to commit suicide at her home in East Drumore Township. After a six-hour stand-off, officers were able to place the defendant under arrest.  

During the trial, Bewley’s defense team never disputed their client shot Mitchell Bewley. However, they claimed she acted in self-defense due to her husband’s past abusive behavior and Bewleys’ mental state at the time of the homicide. In a rebuttal, prosecutors argued the defendant never reported any abuse, lured the victim to his death, and bragged to family members and friends that Mitchell Bewley deserved what he got.

“The defendant executed a plan and then executed the victim. She had it all planned out. It was specific premeditation. She was lying in wait for the victim to get there,” said Assistant District Attorney Christine Wilson, reported Law and Crime.

However, the victim’s father told Bewleys he had forgiven and still loved her during the victim’s impact statement.