A 54-year-old Centralia woman was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Jefferson County Court on Tuesday for the first-degree murder of her husband.
Melissa Howes of Eugene Drive entered a guilty plea for shoving her husband, 49-year-old Jeffrey Howes, to the ground and then running him over twice in the Dix Dollar General Parking lot last September. She will have to serve 100-percent of the sentence. She was also convicted for driving under the influence but received no additional sentence.
Howes had originally been charged with two counts of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol, but the murder charge was added after video from the neighboring Rome Meadows showed her shoving her husband down in the Dollar General parking lot where he lied motionless. At the same time, she got into her vehicle, backed up, and pulled forward running over him.
The prosecution was handled by Jefferson County State’s Attorney Sean Featherstun and Assistant State’s Attorney Caleb Cross.
