Woman acquitted of prison time for boyfriend’s death appeals probation and community service sentence

A California woman who received no prison time for stabbing her boyfriend 108 times resulting in his death is appealing her light sentence.

Bryn Spejcher, 33, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in December 2023 after the May 2018 stabbing of Chad O’Melia, 26, Fox News reported. She was sentenced to two years probation and 100 hours of community service.

Spejcher was charged with a lesser crime because she killed O’Melia in his apartment in Thousand Oaks in an alleged marijuana-induced psychosis after taking several hits from a bong. She claims in her appeal that she was tricked into using the drug, blaming O’Melia in an interview with the Daily Mail.

After stabbing O’Melia, whom she had only been dating a few weeks, Spejcher stabbed her own dog (who survived the attack) and then stabbed herself in the neck. When police arrived at the scene after being called by neighbors, Spejcher was in such a rage that authorities couldn’t restrain her even with a taser and had to beat her with batons until her arms broke, the Mail reported.

She was taken to a hospital and underwent emergency surgery due to her near-fatal knife wounds.

Spejcher blamed O’Melia for the incident in her interview with the Mail, claiming he was physically aggressive and that she “felt intimidated by him.” She claimed he had “temper outbursts and uncontrollable emotions” to the point that she “feared the consequences” of refusing to use marijuana with him.

“Yes, I physically inhaled it. So, we’re both accountable,” she told the outlet. “But there’s obviously been more attention to my part [in the attack] versus Chad’s part.”

O’Melia’s father, Sean, conducted his own interview with People Magazine, saying that his son “never saw Bryn Spejcher for who or what she is” and “Repeatedly, he made excuses for that woman.”

Sean also bemoaned Spejcher’s appeal, saying that she “killed somebody and she is serving no prison time for that — and even that’s not good enough for her.”

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Prosecutors at trial had claimed Spejcher suffered from “Cannabis-Induced Psychotic Disorder,” which caused her to kill O’Melia. Spejcher was initially charged with murder, but the charge was downgraded after medical experts for the defense and the prosecution found her to have had a bad reaction to the marijuana.

Still, after her conviction, the prosecution requested that she receive the maximum sentence of five years in prison.

“The judge took all that and just threw it away,” Sean told People Magazine.

He told the outlet that he believes she would have been tried for murder in another country, adding that “she wouldn’t have just been seen as a harmless White woman, she’d be seen for what she truly is.”

He also said he worries she could have another “psychotic episode.”

“Once you turn that switch on, it can turn on a lot easier next time,” he told the outlet. “The last time she did this, she almost killed herself. So yeah, I’m actually afraid for her own person.”