Nampa murder suspect pleads guilty, avoids death penalty

Brandon Shaw, 23, changed his plea Wednesday in the first-degree murder of his ex-girlfriend Chelsey Rae Malone.

Shaw earlier confessed to investigators that he tried to shoot Malone, then chased her into the street in front of the North Nampa home they had shared and stabbed her repeatedly with two knives on Nov. 18, according to court documents. Malone, the 23-year-old mother of three sons between ages 1 and 4, died a short time later.

In January, Canyon County prosecutors declared the intention to seek the death penalty for Malone's murder, but a plea deal drops that sentencing option. The deal also drops other related charges against Shaw, including burglary and assault with intent to commit a felony.

Shaw, who had been slated to stand trial in mid-April, now is scheduled for sentencing June 24 by 3rd District Judge Bradly Ford.

According to court documents, Shaw and Malone had been dating for about four months and had moved into the house on Berlin Place in October. At the time of the murder, Shaw was in the process of moving out of that house and into his mother's home in Emmett.

Hours after Malone's death, Shaw told police that he pursued her on "instinct ... like a pack of wolves after a deer," according to testimony at a preliminary hearing. He said he stabbed her five or six times, then twice more after she had fallen to the ground.

This story was originally published March 9, 2016 at 7:16 PM with the headline "Nampa murder suspect pleads guilty, avoids death penalty."