Woman sentenced to life for 2022 Charlotte County killing, hiding body behind Lee County church

The State Attorney's Office announced on Saturday that a woman who killed a man in Charlotte County and hid his body behind a Lee County church was sentenced to life in prison.

According to a news release from the SAO, Melissa Dymond-Demetrowitz was involved in the 2022 murder of Shawn Patrick Armstrong. He was killed in Charlotte County and she hid his body in a wooded area behind a church.

Dymond-Demetrowitz was indicted by a grand jury in 2023 and charged with first-degree murder with a firearm, conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence. She pled guilty to all three counts.

Dymond-Demetrowitz told investigators that in September of 2022 she and her co-defendant, Andrew Smith, were driving with the victim near Trucker's Grade. She said that Smith shot Armstrong dead when the two had stepped out of the truck without her. She said that she helped Smith put Armstrong's body back in the truck.

Smith, who stands accused of the same charges as Dymond-Demetrowitz, is awaiting trial.