Zavian Chappell convicted of the 2023 murder of his wife and nephew in their Lompoc home
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – On Monday, Santa Barbara County District Attorney John Savrnoch announced that a jury has found Zavian Chappell guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the murders of Cassandra Chappell and Tyree Sims McPherson in April of 2023.
After a month-long trial in Lompoc and several hours of deliberation, the Santa Barbara County jury also found true the special circumstance that Chappell committed multiple first-degree murders stated the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office in a press release about the conviction Monday.
According to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office, Zavian Chappell shot and killed his 59-year-old wife Cassandra Chappell and her nephew, 29-year-old Tyree Sims McPherson in their Lompoc home in the early morning hours of April 30, 2023.
Cassandra Chappell was a veteran of the United States armed who had limited mobility after her portions of her spine were surgically fused and she had raised her nephew Tyree McPherson since he was four-years-old noted the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office.
Evidence presented at the trial showed that in the hour before the shooting, Cassandra Chappell was watching Judge Judy in the bedroom she shared with Zavian Chappell "which enraged him" detailed the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office.
Zavian Chappell then retrieved a loaded firearm and pointed it at McPherson who begged Zavian Chappell not to shoot him shared the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office.
McPherson was shot three times before he fled from the home and sought help from neighbors explained the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office.
McPherson later died from his injuries.
Zavian Chappell shot Cassandra Chappell three times while she laid on her back on the floor of their home stated the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office.
According to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office, Cassandra Chappell could be heard begging for Zavian Chappell to call her an ambulance and him responding, "you don't get no **** ambulance, you get to die right here, Tyree gets to die right here."
Zavian Chappell now faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole during his sentencing hearing scheduled for May 15, 2025, shared the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office.
