Suspect in death of Pell City woman killed trying to stop car break-ins denied bond

Suspect in death of Pell City woman killed trying to stop car break-ins denied bond

One of the two suspects charged in the 2022 death of a Pell City woman who was fatally run over while trying to foil a series of car break-ins will be held without bond until trial.

Shawn Alyssa Masten, 31, appeared Thursday before Circuit Judge Phil Seay for an Aniah’s Law bond hearing. She was denied bond.

Masten and Christopher Cody Masters, 30, are charged with murder in the death of 46-year-old Rebekah Poe. Both are convicted felons in Alabama.

Masten and Masters were arrested in the Denver area earlier this month. Masters has not yet been extradited.

A St. Clair County grand jury has indicted Masten on 18 criminal charges including felony murder, robbery, unlawful breaking and entering a vehicle, theft of property, credit card theft and leaving the scene of an accident.

Police said it was just before 7:30 p.m. that November 2022 night when Poe, who served at her church and was a longtime beloved employee at Waffle House, confronted suspects who had just broken into vehicles at a residence on Skyline Trail.

She was struck and killed as the suspects fled the scene.

Rebekah Poe (GoFundMe)

Pell City police Chief Clay Morris in a previous press conference called Poe’s death, “one of the most tragic crimes we’ve had in Pell City.”

Morris said the lengthy investigation was intensive, thorough, and deliberate. Investigators identified 5,000 potential suspect vehicles, analyzed 10,000 digital devices, and received 15,000 pieces of data from communication companies. More than 30 search warrants were carried out during the probe.

Morris said the couple left Alabama immediately after Poe’s death and had no intention of returning.

The chief said he is confident in the evidence linking them to the crime.

“We can definitely place them at the scene of the crime,’’ Morris said.

Masten has multiple arrests dating back to 2016 in both the Bessemer Cutoff and Birmingham divisions of Jefferson County. She pleaded guilty to drug possession in 2021 and received a 24-month sentence.

Masters, too, has been arrested numerous times in Alabama, including charges out of Jefferson, Lauderdale, Talladega, and Marion counties. He last pleaded guilty in 2021 to unlawful breaking and entering a vehicle.

At the time of Poe’s death, Masters had been out of state prison only five months, and Masten had been out of prison for roughly nine months.