Courtroom gasps as Ashlee Buzzard pleads not guilty to murder of 9-year-old Melodee
This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.
Ashlee Buzzard, the California mother accused of killing her 9-year-old daughter, Melodee Buzzard, pleaded not guilty Friday morning during a brief but emotional arraignment in Santa Barbara County Superior Court.Buzzard, 40, appeared in custody for the hearing, where a judge formally arraigned her on charges of first-degree murder, “lying in wait” and related firearm charges in the death of her daughter, whose remains were discovered Dec.6 in a remote area of Utah.The courtroom erupted as Buzzard entered the not guilty plea on all counts, as people seated in the gallery cried “oh my god,” video of the hearing shows.
A court officer briefly called for order before the proceeding continued.Buzzard will remain held without bail pending further proceedings, according to the Santa Barbara County district attorney’s office.Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan.
7.Authorities allege that Buzzard fatally shot Melodee during a multistate road trip in October before returning alone to Santa Barbara County.Investigators believe the killing occurred on or around Oct.9, shortly after the pair were last seen together on surveillance video near the Utah-Colorado border.Melodee had been reported missing weeks earlier after failing to return home from what investigators described as an “unusual” cross-country trip with her mother.
According to sheriff’s officials, Buzzard rented a vehicle for the trip and took deliberate steps to avoid detection, including wearing wigs and clumsy disguises.Buzzard was also captured on surveillance swapping license plates and backing into gas stations so cameras would not capture identifying information, investigators allege.On Dec.
6, a couple discovered Melodee’s decomposed body along a remote stretch of State Route 24 near Caineville, Utah.Prosecutors alleged Buzzard carried out the murder with a high degree of “planning, sophisti...