A 22-year-old woman from Virginia allegedly took a man to McDonald's for his “last meal” before killing him and dismembering his body.
Bronwyn C Meeks pleaded guilty on Friday to over 30 criminal charges, including counts of first-degree murder of 20-year-old Dylan D Whetzel.
The Stafford County man’s remains were recovered from four large garbage bags in the woods of Spotsylvania on 1 February 2021.
Whetzel was shot in the head at least five times on 31 January, before his body was mutilated and disposed of in garbage bags.
Meeks, along with two co-defendants Dominic Samuels and Brennan Thomas, both aged 19, were arrested and collectively face a total of 85 criminal charges.
She was scheduled for an arraignment on Friday, but decided to take the plea agreement, local daily The Free Lance Star reported.
According to special prosecutor David Sands, Meeks and Mr Samuels are allegedly drug dealers and romantically involved.
Mr Thomas was a friend who attended the same high school. Her disagreement with Whetzel began when he asked her to stop selling drugs to one of his friends who had once overdosed.
Meeks made arrangements to pick up Whetzel in North Stafford under the garb of attending a party. But the trio drove Whetzel to a McDonald’s for what she wrote in a text as his “last meal", the prosecutor said.
They drove to western Spotsylvania, where Whetzel was pulled out of the vehicle and shot repeatedly on the head. Mr Sands added that Mr Samuels and Mr Thomas later purchased a Cobalt axe and dismembered the body.
Authorities were intimated by Mr Thomas’s grandfather who called 911 after seeing his grandson coming out of the woods.
Mr Sands reportedly requested judge Ricardo Rigual to sentence Meeks to prison for 16 to 54 years.
Mr Samuels is scheduled to face a jury on 15 August, while Mr Thomas' proceedings are likely to begin on 29 November.
