Defendant In 2021 Middletown Shooting Gets 27 Years

MIDDLETOWN, CT — The defendant in a 2021 Middletown shooting that left one man dead is to spend more than a quarter-century in prison, prosecutors said.

Middlesex Judicial District State's Attorney Michael A. Gailor said that Judge Julia D. Dewey Tuesday sentenced 47-year-old Middletown resident Melody Christensen to 27 years in prison for fatally shooting her boyfriend on South Main Street in Middletown three years ago.

The shooting took place on March 1, 2021. Christensen had entered a guilty plea to first-degree manslaughter with a firearm on Jan. 23.

According to case records, at the time of the incident, Christensen claimed that she had acted in self-defense. The investigation by the Middletown Police Department, however, showed that during a verbal argument, Christensen took a gun out of a backpack and pointed it at the victim.

Christensen fired three shots at the victim before shooting herself. She survived and was later found at a hotel in East Hartford, police records show. She initially had an Alabama residence listed on arrest records.

Gailor praised the work of the Middletown Police Department citing the "thoroughness" of the investigation, "especially in light of the claim of self-defense."