Elyria woman who shot, paralyzed boyfriend sent to prison

An Elyria woman who shot her boyfriend in the neck and paralyzed him has been sentenced to prison for at least eight years after pleading guilty to two felony assault charges. The victim, Michael Mudrick, died more than a year after the incident, but Deanna Hembree avoided a murder conviction as part of a plea agreement. Hembree, 41, of Cleveland Street, pleaded guilty to two counts of felonious assault, firearms and gun forfeiture specifications in Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Melissa Kobasher's courtroom on June 2. The Lorain County Prosecutor's Office dismissed aggravated murder, murder and attempted murder charges prior to Hembree's guilty plea, and elected to have Kobasher sentence her on one of the two felonious assault charges and a firearms specification. Kobasher sentenced Hembree to eight to 10½ years in prison, with three mandatory years to be served first on a firearms specification, according to court records. Upon release, Hembree will be on 18 months to three years mandatory parole. She received credit for 194 days served in jail toward her prison sentence. Hembree's earliest release date is in November 2030, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Messages seeking comment on the resolution of the case were left for Hembree's attorney, James Ingalls, and for the prosecutor's office. A jury trial had been scheduled in Kobasher's court this coming December. Background Hembree shot and paralyzed Mudrick, 51, in August 2021. He died in a nursing home in October 2022, according to his published obituary and the prosecutor's office. The proseuctor's office said Hembree was intoxicated on Aug. 7, 2021, when she shot Mudrick in the neck with a .22 caliber Marlin Glenfield rifle after the couple argued over pizza. The round entered the back of Mudrick's neck, paralyzing him, and he wasn't able to move and was barely able to speak when emergency personnel arrived at the scene. Mudrick was able to tell an EMS worker that Hembree shot him. Hembree gave conflicting statements to police, first saying the gun fell out of its case and went off, then that she brought it into the couple's bedroom, it fell and went off, according to the prosecutor's office. Hembree originally was charged with attempted murder and two counts of felonious assault in September 2021, but prosecutors agreed to drop the attempted murder charge if she pleaded guilty to felonious assault, a firearms specification carrying a mandatory three-year prison sentence. Mudrick died after that plea was arranged. Murder charges were filed in December. The gun Hembree used was ordered forfeited to the Elyria Police Department to be destroyed, according to court records. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @DaveOBrienCT.