A San Mateo woman has been sentenced to life in prison after a Brevard County jury rejected her claim that she killed her boyfriend in self-defense.
Caylen Deller, 32, was found guilty of first-degree murder on Thursday in the September 2024 death of Chad Mullen, her on-again and off-again boyfriend. Jurors deliberated for just over an hour before returning the verdict. She was also convicted of tampering with evidence and failure to report the death of a person.
Prosecutors said Deller killed Mullen at her horse farm in San Mateo and then enlisted a friend and her horse to help move his body. The remains were discovered in a shallow grave more than a month after Mullen was reported missing.
Testifying Wednesday, Deller said she shot Mullen because he choked her and raised a hammer toward her after she confronted him over unproven allegations that he had sexually abused her young daughter. She said Mullen pinned her against a truck and grabbed her by the throat, leaving her unable to breathe.
Deller told the court she then grabbed a gun she said she had obtained after Mullen allegedly broke into her apartment on Aug. 1, 2024.
“I pulled the trigger of the gun and shot him twice,” Deller said. “I was extremely afraid. I shot Chad twice in self-defense.”
She said she never intended to kill Mullen and believed at the time she was protecting herself.
Under questioning from prosecutors, Deller was asked why she never contacted police and why she continued communicating with Mullen despite describing him as violent. Prosecutors presented phone records showing Deller placed 28 calls to Mullen between Sept. 2 and Sept. 9, 2024.
Deller testified she didn’t call 911 after the shooting because she doubted investigators would believe her account of self-defense, and she said she kept the death from Mullen’s family for the same reason.
“It was probably not a good idea,” Deller said. “I was more concerned about getting in trouble.”
During closing arguments Thursday, a prosecutor told jurors Deller had other options available to her at the time.
“She could have called law enforcement to report that Mr. Mullen attacked her or charged at her or did something to her, but she never did,” the prosecutor said.
