Say What Now? Throat-Slashing Murderer Marries Accomplice on Same Day After Killing Rape Accuser

A Mississippi man received a life sentence for the vicious killing of a woman who had accused him of sexual assault, and later that same day, he married his accomplice in an unsuccessful bid to block her testimony.

A Mississippi man will spend life in prison for the 2019 murder of 21-year-old Celeste McDonald, a young woman he allegedly killed just days after she accused him of sexual assault.

A state judge Wednesday ordered 39-year-old Ryan Christopher Hopkins to serve “life in prison without parole plus an additional 20 years” for McDonald’s death, authorities announced, per Law&Crime.

Labeling Hopkins a “throat-slashing murderer,” Hinds County District Attorney Jody E. Owens II announced the sentence in a post to his office’s Facebook page, stating that the crime was the result of a twisted “love triangle plot.”

The sentence came after a jury found Hopkins guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Hopkins’ then-girlfriend, Yolonda Torns, was also convicted in McDonald’s death, snagging a second-degree murder charge. After allegedly committing the murder and cover-up together, Hopkins and Torns reportedly said “I do” later the very same day.

Torns cut a deal with prosecutors last year, which required her to cooperate with investigators and testify against Hopkins in his murder trial. Her cooperation landed her a 25-year prison sentence — a 40-year sentence with 15 years suspended.

“There are crimes that shake you, and then there are crimes that haunt you. This was both. Celeste’s death was planned, executed, and followed by a wedding. That is evil. Today’s verdict proves that cruelty knows no limits, but justice trumps cruelty,” Owens said in a statement to Jackson NBC affiliate WLBT.

According to a WJTV report, McDonald vanished on March 31, 2019. Her body was discovered the next day in a roadside ditch near Mound, Louisiana, covered with bricks.

Investigators quickly pieced together timeline, learning in March 2019 that McDonald accused Hopkins of sexual assault. A little over a week later, authorities say Hopkins and Torns allegedly drove to McDonald’s home in Forest, Mississippi, picked her up, and took her to a residence on Belvedere Drive, about 45 miles east of Jackson, according to Jackson ABC affiliate WAPT.

Once at the Belvedere Drive residence, Torns allegedly went to Walmart, where he bought “bleach, detergent, and plastic wrap,” she testified, per WJTV. Upon her return, Torns reportedly told authorities that Hopkins used a knife to brutally “slash McDonald’s throat.” Torns then allegedly grabbed another knife and stabbed McDonald herself.

The duo then allegedly wrapped McDonald’s body in the freshly purchased plastic wrap, hauled it across state lines to Louisiana, and dumped her in the ditch, obscuring her remains with bricks.

Authorities revealed that Hopkins and Torns returned to Jackson later that day and got married, apparently thinking their marriage would shield them from testifying against each other. However, Mississippi law dictates that spousal privilege only covers communications and events during the marriage, not before.

WJTV reports that the vile pair have since divorced.

via: TooFab

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