Jury finds man guilty of first-degree murder in shooting death of Norfolk woman | Select

Gleaton, who remained expressionless via most of the seven-working day demo, shut his eyes for about 10 seconds and rubbed his brow with equally arms just after hearing the guilty verdict on the murder cost.

A very first-degree murder conviction in Nebraska mandates a sentence of daily life in prison with out the possibility of parole. Gleaton will be sentenced on Thursday, July 21.

Madison County Attorney Joe Smith made the decision not to pursue the demise penalty from Gleaton, saying that the aggravators the point out would have to verify “failed to quite line up.”

Todd Lancaster, Gleaton’s lawyer, stated he was disappointed with the verdict and experienced hoped the jury would appear again with a lesser-incorporated demand, this kind of as manslaughter.

“It was a difficult circumstance — plenty of authorized concerns, plenty of various persons testifying, lots of tough points,” Lancaster explained. “So it really is 1 of those people conditions where by unforeseen things come about. But we have been hoping for a lesser demand and didn’t get it.”

Lancaster mentioned there most likely would be an attractiveness on Gleaton’s behalf immediately after he is sentenced.

In addition to first-degree murder, Gleaton was convicted of very first-degree assault, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, use of a firearm to commit a felony and tampering with a witness.

Smith reported he’s grateful that the jury arrived to a just conclusion.

“The jury did a great job that was a tricky scenario,” Smith said. “… It was the right verdict.”

Christiansen’s family members users mentioned they were being grateful for the jury’s verdict and that the convictions provide them some relief.

“This is what we required. We surely have been combating difficult to make positive that we didn’t shed Hailey and not have (Gleaton) be held accountable,” explained Janet Christiansen, Hailey’s mother. “He took her absent from us.”

Chad Christiansen, one of Hailey’s two brothers, claimed the demo was in no way about Gleaton. As a substitute, he stated, it has constantly been about receiving justice for Hailey and her son, and allowing the household to commence healing.

“It does not transform nearly anything, it will not carry her back,” Chad Christiansen explained. “But it is really at minimum a move in the healing approach for all of us.”

Janet Christiansen said that even though the convictions are a move in the suitable direction for the loved ones, nothing at all can provide the Christiansens closure.

“She was a aspect of our lives, and she was with us each individual solitary working day,” she explained. “… We can transfer ahead a small bit, but it really is not closure mainly because that section of existence would not change for us. It is really continue to the same.”

Hollie Christiansen, one of Hailey’s two sisters, concurred with Chad Christiansen that it is vital to keep in mind Hailey’s title, not Gleaton’s.

“A ton of the posts, a good deal of stuff pointed out DeShawn’s name, and persons are heading to bear in mind that,” Hollie Christiansen mentioned. “But this is about Hailey, and they require to know that this was about her and every little thing that happened to her.”

Curt Christiansen, another brother of Hailey’s, stated his sister’s loss of life serves as a reminder that domestic violence is a significant dilemma. The relatives hopes that Hailey’s demo raises consciousness as to how immediately relationships involving domestic violence can escalate, he reported.

Gleaton’s convictions occur nearly 22 months immediately after Christiansen’s loss of life, and he is scheduled to be sentenced just about two a long time to the date right after the murder.

Chad Christiansen explained the family was ready for the scenario to acquire a prolonged time to solve. He credited Smith and Joanie Brugger, the director of the Madison County sufferer aid unit, for the perform they did in building proof towards Gleaton and preserving the relatives informed all over the situation.

“They represented us seriously properly, and they represented Hailey really very well,” he reported. “I you should not assume I would talk to for everything to be performed any greater than the way it was performed.

“You can tell it was not just about profitable a courtroom scenario for them. It was about our family.”

Also current through the duration of the demo were Mike Christiansen, Hailey’s father Heidi Christiansen, Hailey’s sister Travis Christiansen, Hailey’s brother-in-legislation and several extended household associates and close friends.

Smith, whose closing statements lasted about an hour, known as Christiansen’s killing an act of self-curiosity on Gleaton’s behalf. Gleaton was worried that Christiansen would testify against him in a independent legal situation, Smith claimed, so he decided to kill Christiansen so she wouldn’t be in a position to “send him to jail.”

“Mr. Gleaton misplaced regulate and acquired regulate once again when he put this bullet as a result of her coronary heart and bragged about it,” Smith advised the jury, holding the bullet that traveled via Christiansen’s right lung and coronary heart in advance of lodging into her left arm.

Smith, as he did all through the evidentiary portion of the trial, played a Snapchat movie posted by Gleaton soon following he shot Christiansen. In the video clip, Gleaton can be heard saying, “Yeah, I shot the (expletive).”

Smith reported he focused as a great deal as he did on the Snapchat video mainly because Gleaton designed the online video less than his individual volition, with out coercion from law enforcement into a confession.

“You base what you do on the evidence in court, but you also base your decision on the potential to reason,” Smith said. “How do factors perform in real existence? What does it indicate in genuine daily life when a person drives 100 miles with a gun, hops a fence, puts a bullet in (Christiansen’s) side and brags about it?”

To locate a defendant responsible of initially-diploma murder, jurors have to come across that the defendant killed deliberately with deliberate and premeditated malice. In a slideshow presentation, Smith discussed the meanings of “intentional,” “deliberate” and “premeditated.”

“The time required for premeditation may perhaps be so brief as to be instantaneous, provided that the intent to destroy is shaped right before the eliminate and not simultaneously with the act,” Smith reported.

Gleaton had a program, Smith reported, driving to Norfolk from Sioux Metropolis on the night time of July 23, 2020, stalking Christiansen and attempting to track down her. Concerning 6:30 and 6:45 a.m. on July 24, Gleaton shot Christiansen at 1105 Blaine St., drove back toward Sioux Town, dumped his motor vehicle in Jackson and gave the gun and his telephone to a pair of close friends.

Smith said Gleaton’s strategy was thwarted when Sioux Town police acquired of his whereabouts and swarmed Morning Hills Residences on the early morning of July 25, in which Gleaton was positioned, by himself, at a friend’s next-ground apartment. Once law enforcement announced their presence, Gleaton experienced expressed a worry that regulation enforcement was likely to get rid of him, but he surrendered soon thereafter.

The county lawyer advised jurors to base their selection exclusively on the evidence, not conjecture.

“The wild concept that anyone else was in (Christiansen’s home), shooting, which is conjecture,” Smith mentioned. “You base your final decision on what the facts tell you, not some fantasy.”

Smith told the jury to also consider the statements created by Gleaton to then-Norfolk police investigator Lou Siefker.

“When DeShawn Gleaton was interviewed by Siefker, he said he only fired just one shot and did not pick up any shell casings,” Smith explained. “He remembered evidently what occurred. He mentioned evidently what took place on the (Snapchat) video clips. He, when confronted with the details, remembered what he did.

“Only a murderer who is cognizant of what is going on would don’t forget.”

LANCASTER explained to jurors in his approximately 45-minute closing argument that when they contemplate statements made by Gleaton to Siefker, they should look at all the statements Gleaton manufactured, “not just the ones the state finds favorable.”

“When Mr. Siefker asked, ‘Were you undertaking this to maintain Hailey quiet,’ (Siefker) reported that Mr. Gleaton’s reaction was, ‘I was not seeking to hold her silent, I wasn’t hoping that,’ ” Lancaster stated.

Lancaster also recounted testimony from Siefker that indicated Gleaton was genuinely astonished when he found out that Christiansen had died.

“If his intent was to destroy Hailey Christiansen, and if that is why he went (to 1105 Blaine St.), he would not have legitimate shock that she was useless,” Lancaster claimed. “(Siefker) claimed Mr. Gleaton said, ‘I did not mean to kill her, I did not want to hurt her, I liked her, it was an incident.’ ”

The defense legal professional also argued that Smith did not repeat the actual terms Gleaton applied in the moment-prolonged Snapchat video immediately after the taking pictures.

“Mr. Smith blended them in a minimal little bit when he stated it’s a video of him bragging about killing Hailey Christiansen and demonstrating (Gleaton’s) intent,” Lancaster mentioned. “(Smith) mentioned, ‘The explanation to eliminate was for the reason that I shot the (expletive) she was actively playing with me.’ The whole assertion (Gleaton) tends to make is, ‘Mother (expletive) are taking part in with me, not playing with me upcoming time.’ ”

Lancaster also pointed to inconsistencies in witnesses’ testimony. Christiansen’s pals testified that Gleaton had called Christiansen more than a dozen moments on the night of July 23 and early morning of July 24. A get in touch with log showed that Gleaton produced seven calls to Christiansen.

One of Christiansen’s neighbors, Kim Mlnarik, experienced testified that she observed Gleaton park a silver car outside the house Christiansen’s residence on the morning of the shooting. Other witnesses testified that the car Gleaton was driving was brown or gold. Even more, Lancaster argued, Mlnarik testified that the car or truck wasn’t loud, and other witnesses testified that the car or truck was noisy and sounded like an old car.

Lancaster also referenced testimony from Lincoln police detective Robert Hurley, who compiled cellphone knowledge that showed Gleaton’s cellular phone experienced traveled from Sioux Town to Norfolk, was around 1105 Blaine St. and afterwards returned to Sioux Town.

“Mr. Hurley can only explain to us the handsets connected with the quantities of Hailey Christiansen and DeShawn Gleaton are in certain spots,” Lancaster stated. “ He cannot testify that this handset is at this correct site. He just cannot say who’s holding that handset or who’s in the motor vehicle with that handset.”

The point out did not verify premeditation or intent, Lancaster mentioned, and proved only that manslaughter — at best — had been dedicated.

“The point out is telling you that Mr. Gleaton dedicated initially-diploma murder and place himself subject matter to individuals penalties, all in endeavor to stay away from a county jail sentence,” Lancaster stated. “Is that a fair principle? That another person would dedicate murder to prevent a misdemeanor charge?”

IN HIS REBUTTAL, Smith responded to Lancaster’s argument that it wouldn’t be plausible to eliminate Christiansen and dedicate murder to keep away from a pair of misdemeanor prices.

“I don’t have to prove that the defendant was wise,” Smith said. “I just have to show that he was guilty.”

Smith said the evidence is crystal clear — that Gleaton fully commited very first-degree murder.

“Sherlock Holmes the moment explained, ‘To make a choice, all points have to look to be just what they are,’ ” Smith stated. “What that implies is if we seem at pieces of evidence, it is what it is. It can not be a little something else.

“It’s time to do your obligation and, based on the proof, the instructions and your duty, there is only one verdict that will be just — just to every person, to modern society,” Smith explained. “And on the murder charge, which is murder in the initial diploma.”