Child Abuse and Homicide

Ashlee Buzzard, a California mother charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of her 9-year-old daughter Melodee, appeared in Santa Barbara County Superior Court in Lompoc on Jan. 7, where a preliminary hearing was tentatively set for Jan. 21 as prosecutors pursue life without parole and add firearm and lying‑in‑wait enhancements. Melodee was reported missing in October after leaving California on a road trip with her mother and was found dead with gunshot wounds to the head in a remote area of Wayne County, Utah, on Dec. 6, while the child’s grandmother publicly rejected any potential insanity defense and alleged the killing was planned.