Mark Shaw is still in disbelief, two months after learning his youngest son, 23-year-old Brandon Shaw is facing charges for first degree murder.
“I mean I don't know what to tell you,” Mark said. “This stuff comes on the TV all the time, you see it, you hear about it, and you read about it in the newspaper, you know, but you never think it's going to happen.”
His son, Brandon Shaw, is being charged with the stabbing death of 23-year-old Chelsey Rae Malone. The two were living together on Berlin Place in Nampa, where the incident took place.
According to Mark, the couple was separating, and Brandon was staying with his mother. Brandon returned to their home the afternoon of November 18 to retrieve some of his personal belongings.
According to court documents, Chelsey wasn’t home, and after he gathered his things, Shaw left. That’s when police say Shaw “zoned out” and felt the urge to harm and kill Malone, turning around and returning to the home. This time, Chelsey was there.
“I wasn't at that house. Nobody else was at that house. So we don't really know what happened,”
Mark Shaw said. But what he does feel strongly about is his son’s ability to handle a firearm. “He wasn't going to kill her with that gun.”
“All of my boys are very, very adequate firearm handlers, they understand firearms, they're very accurate with firearms, because I started them shooting at about five years old ,” Shaw said. “So if his intention was to go there like what Nampa police keeps trying to say about him shooting her with a firearm, if that was the case, he would have done that and I know that for a fact, because he's a very accurate shooter with his gun.”
Court documents say Shaw told police he showed up with a rifle, and pulled the trigger “with the intent of killing her”, while Chelsey was on the phone with 911. That’s when court documents state the gun didn’t discharge, and Shaw dropped the rifle, grabbed two kitchen knives, and chased Chelsey eventually fatally stabbing her several times in the back and neck.
“Whatever happened was not his intent,” Mark said. “I can guarantee you that because I know my son that well.” “So you think this was not premeditated?” “No,” Mark said.
Mark says the picture painted by the prosecution doesn’t seem typical for the son he raised.
“My son is not a vicious person,” Shaw said. “Never got in trouble with anybody in school, he was well liked by his classmates. He's a loving, kind individual who cares about people and proof is in his past. He’s never been in trouble with the law. He's not a drinker, he doesn't do drugs, he's not involved in any of that. He's never had a traffic violation.”
If found guilty, prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty for Shaw.
“Every time I see him I tell him I love him, and that we're here for him. I'm not going to walk away from my son because of this incident,” Mark said.
Malone left behind three young children. A GoFundMe account set up to raise money for her children raised more than $3,300.
6 On Your Side reached out to Malone's family for comment and has not heard back.
