Mesa man sentenced to 35 years in prison for murder of wife

PHOENIX — A Mesa man was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the murder of his wife, authorities announced Wednesday.

Vaughn Alexander Wilson, 31, killed 29-year-old Jada Wilson at their home near 96th Street and Sunland Avenue on the night of July 13, 2021, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said in a press release.

Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the home and found Jada Wilson lying in the hallway with three gunshot wounds. Vaughn Wilson told deputies he shot his wife after she told him she wanted a divorce.

Vaughn Wilson added that he killed her because he couldn’t live with the thought of her being with anyone else. Jada Wilson was shot in the chest and shoulder while trying to escape her husband and once in the head while she was on the hallway floor.

Vaughn Wilson pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in January.

“Far too often domestic violence victims are killed when they choose to break free from their abuser,” County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in the release. “Every act of seeking justice against an abuser is a powerful declaration that their actions will not go unchallenged and that they will be held accountable.

“My heart goes out to the victim’s loved ones who have endured so much over the past three years.”

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