A 42-year-old woman killed in an Oct. 9 shooting at a Gillette home is being remembered by her parents for her kindness and generosity even in death.
Marissa Allen, who was pronounced dead on Sunday at UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, Colo., donated her heart, lungs, kidneys, and liver to recipients and pancreas to medical research.
“Despite the turmoil and chaos that came into my beautiful daughter’s life, in death she was still giving,” 61-year-old Joseph Allen of Ventura, Calif., who is Marissa Allen’s father, said in a phone interview.
Javier Abeyta, 43, has been charged with two counts of attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault and battery. He remained on Friday in the Campbell County Detention Center on a $1 million cash or surety bond.
One of the attempted second-degree murder charges is expected to be upgraded to first-degree murder.
Police Confession
Police have not released details about the relationship between Abeyta and Allen or information about a possible motive for the shooting.
A probable cause affidavit states a Gillette officer responding to a shots-fired call opened a garage door at the home in the 1300 block of O’Henry Drive and found Allen on the floor. Abeyta, who dropped a handgun he was holding, walked out of the garage and allegedly said, “I just shot her.”
Officers immediately performed CPR on Allen, who had a gunshot wound to the head and wasn’t breathing.
The owner of the home told officers Abeyta came over before the shooting and was “acting crazy” and made several paranoid statements, said the affidavit.
Officers interviewed another person who was at the house and said that a group of people there intended to use meth, according to the affidavit.
At one point, while in the garage, Abeyta pointed a gun at the back of a man’s head and pulled the trigger, but the weapon did not fire, a witness told police.
Marissa Allen was shot in the head by Abeyta as she tried to gain control of the gun, the witness said.
Two men ran from the garage toward the backyard where they heard a single gunshot ring out. One of the men encountered Abeyta as he walked out of the garage. “Get out of my way or I will shoot you too,” Abeyta told the man, according to the affidavit. “I shot her. I killed her.”
Police searched the garage and recovered a bullet in the drywall and a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun.
Abeyta’s sister later told police he had been paranoid and “spiraling” throughout the day before the shooting, adding she took him to a hospital, which wasn’t identified, because she believed he was dehydrated from alcohol use. He was administered IV fluids in the Emergency Room and released, the affidavit states.
Kimberly Windsor-Allen, who is Marissa Allen’s 49-year-old stepmother, questioned why Abeyta was discharged from the hospital if he was in a mental health crisis. “We want to make it clear that we will be filing a wrongful death lawsuit if it is found that the hospital is liable for her death,” she said. “We are not trying to get money out of this. Our goal is to hold people responsible.”
Getting Life In Order
Marissa Allen was in the “wrong place at the wrong time,” her stepmother added.
Marissa Allen, who grew up in Ventura, has 11 half-siblings, two sons aged 23 and 15, and a pair of grandsons whom she has never met, according to her parents.
Her journey to Wyoming began with legal trouble, her parents said. When she was about 13, she was sent by California authorities to a diversion program in Gillette for those involved in the juvenile court system.
She never left the state, earning a commercial driver’s license certification while in prison for a drug possession conviction. She was most recently employed as a convenience store clerk.
“Marissa chose the wrong path in life, but she was getting her life together,” Joseph Allen said, adding she was clean and sober at the time of her killing.
Marissa Allen was also fiercely independent and had a soft spot for children, according to her father. “She made her own life and didn’t depend on anyone to carry her,” he said. “She kept a smile on her face and would light up a room. I have seen her help and bring joy to many people.”
Luke Meadows, who lives in Arizona and is the father of Marissa Allen’s 15-year-old son, said she was kind, loving, and loyal. “She never let anyone be left out,” he said. She was a good mom to our son. She tried so hard over the years to beat her demons, and I honestly believe she was on the right path.”
Scott Schwebke can be reached at scott@cowboystatedaily.com.
