| For Immediate Release Case # 06WF2607
October 10, 2008 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
TEENAGE GIRL SENTENCED TO 25 TO LIFE FOR MURDERING MOTHER WITH BOYFRIEND AND DUMPING BODY IN NEWPORT HARBOR
SANTA ANA – A teenage girl was sentenced today to 25 years to life in prison for stabbing and murdering her mother with her boyfriend and dumping the victim’s body in Newport Harbor. Rachael Scarlett Mullenix, 19, Huntington Beach, was found guilty by a jury on July 17, 2008, of one felony count of murder. The defendant was 17-years-old at the time of the murder and was charged as an adult.
Ian Westleigh Allen, 23, Huntington Beach, Mullenix’s boyfriend at the time of the murder, was convicted on Sept. 18, 2008, of one felony count of murder and faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison at his sentencing on Nov. 14, 2008, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-41, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
On Sept. 13, 2006, Allen and Rachael Mullenix murdered Rachael Mullenix’s mother, Barbara Mullenix, at the Mullenix’s Huntington Beach home because the mother disapproved of the couple’s relationship and was concerned that her daughter was not spending enough time with the family. Before the murder, Rachel Mullenix wrote a text message to Allen stating, “We have only two options. Run or Tuesday. Or another option you apologize to my mom. You decide if you want to be with me.” The defendants murdered the victim by stabbing her several times and then dumping the victim’s body in the harbor. After the murder, Rachel Mullenix texted Allen “I love you. Am I going to see you soon? Are you in trouble? Can I call you?”
Barbara Mullenix’s body was discovered on Sept. 14, 2006, after the Newport Beach Police Department received a call about a body floating in the harbor at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club. The victim was found in the water rolled in a blanket with a butter knife sticking out of her eye.
Allen and Mullenix fled the state in an effort to escape prosecution. On Sept. 15, 2006, detectives investigating the case issued a teletype to law enforcement across the United States with a description of Allen’s truck after learning that the defendants may be driving to the home of one of Rachael Mullenix’s friends in Florida.
On Sept. 17, 2006, detectives learned that Allen and Mullenix had been detained in Louisiana by the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Department. The defendants had been stopped on the highway after Louisiana law enforcement learned that the couple may be traveling through the state. The defendants were taken into custody and subsequently transported back to Orange County to face charges for the murder of Barbara Mullenix.
The defendant testified during trial. She claimed that she had no recollection of the butter knife stuck almost up to the handle in her deceased mother’s eye. The defendant was confronted with the poem she wrote titled “Life and Death,” where she gives a laundry list of things that a bad child does including “commit murder.”
Senior Deputy District Attorney Sonia Balleste of the Homicide Unit prosecuted this case.