Deller took the stand in her trial on a first-degree murder charge. She said she and Mullen met at Stormy Stables on Sept. 9, 2024, after his truck broke down. After he fixed a headlight, she confronted him about whether he had inappropriately touched her 5-year-old daughter, she testified. Deller said Mullen became angry and choked her.

She testified that she took a gun from under the driver’s seat and pointed it at him. When he backed away, picked up a hammer and moved toward her, she fired twice. “I was extremely afraid,” Deller told the jury.

Deller’s account is central to the defense’s argument that she reasonably feared for her life. Defense attorney Brian Smith told jurors that Mullen grabbed Deller by the throat and that she fired only after he reached for a hammer. Smith urged jurors to find her not guilty of first-degree murder, while acknowledging that her actions after the shooting were wrong. His opening statement was not evidence.

Prosecutors questioned Deller about why she drove Mullen to the stable to confront him alone after dark and why she did not report her concerns about her daughter to authorities. Police said the child did not disclose or indicate abuse when interviewed, according to the prosecution’s opening statement.

The state also challenged Deller’s decision to keep contacting Mullen. Prosecutors said she called him 28 times between Sept. 2 and Sept. 9, 2024. Deller testified that she had obtained the gun from a friend after Mullen allegedly broke into her apartment the month before, but said she did not get it specifically to protect herself from him.

Deller said she did not call 911 after the shooting because Tina Marie Lee-Ellis, a second woman charged in the case, told her police would not believe her. Deller testified that she went to Lee-Ellis’ home, returned with her to the stable and found Mullen was not breathing. She said Lee-Ellis took the gun and spent casings, and the two put Mullen’s body in a pond.

According to Deller, the body later resurfaced and Lee-Ellis told her to move it to Burns Farm. Deller said she used a four-wheeler and horse trailer to transport the body, while Lee-Ellis chose a burial site and used a skid steer to dig and cover the grave. Deller also testified that she later threw Mullen’s phone into a fire and did not tell his family what had happened because she feared they would not believe her account.

The prosecution’s opening statement described the body being moved and buried in St. Johns County, about a mile from the Putnam County line. Mullen was reported missing around Sept. 15, 2024, and his body was found more than a month later. Lee-Ellis has been charged with accessory to first-degree murder after the fact and is out on bond.

Forensic testimony established that Mullen died from two gunshot wounds to the chest, according to associate medical examiner Dr. Iana Lesnikova, who ruled the death a homicide. She said both wounds caused bleeding and would have been fatal without immediate medical care. Because the body had been buried under unknown conditions, she could not determine how long Mullen had been dead or buried.

A Florida Department of Law Enforcement DNA analyst testified that profiles from a partial rib bone recovered during the investigation and a toothbrush submitted as a reference sample were consistent. A firearms analyst said she could not determine whether recovered bullet fragments came from one, two or three bullets, or whether they were fired from the same gun.

The defense rested Wednesday after a long day of testimony. The trial is scheduled to resume Thursday at 8:45 a.m.