Elizabethtown man sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to brutally beating wife to death in 2021

An Elizabethtown man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after he pleaded guilty yesterday to viciously beating his wife to death four years ago.

Christopher Alexander Mello, 43, repeatedly answered affirmatively as Judge David Ashworth asked him a series of questions as to whether he understood that by pleading guilty to a single count of first-degree murder that he would spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Mello repeatedly punched and kicked 39-year-old Alexandria Reynolds at their then-residence in the 300 block of West High Street the evening of Sept. 30, 2021.

Assistant District Attorney Fritz Haverstick, who prosecuted the case, described the result of what an eyewitness called a nearly “24-hour beating” Reynolds suffered, which included over 100 bruises covering her entire body, numerous broken bones including her nose, orbital socket, jaw and neck, multiple damaged organs and a severed artery in her brain.

Reynolds’ parents, seated in the courtroom gallery, began crying as Haverstick described her extensive injuries.

“It’s clear that she suffered a great deal” at Mello’s hands, Haverstick told the court, “and I hope he thinks about that for the rest of his life.”

Police later found a severely beaten Reynolds dead in a bathtub on the residence’s second floor along with blood smeared on walls and multiple holes roughly the size of a human head. When questioned by police Mello admitted to having punched Reynolds in the face and to having kicked her while she was on the ground.

In handing down the sentence Judge Ashworth lamented that nothing within the court’s power could undo the “horror” of Mello’s actions.

All the court could do, Judge Ashworth said, was impose the mandatory sentence of life in prison.

Though an attorney representing Mello told the court he was “remorseful,” Mello himself declined an opportunity to address the court when Judge Ashworth gave him an opportunity to do so.

Before dismissing the courtroom Judge Ashworth told Mello he hoped he used his lifetime incarceration to address his “very serious” anger issues.

As part of his sentence Mello must also pay $4,500 in restitution to the victim’s family.

Elizabethtown Borough Police Officer Matthew Shuey filed the charges.