Man Shot, Killed Ex-Wife In Presence Of Their 5-Year-Old Daughter

A man was arrested and charged for fatally shooting his ex-wife in the presence of their five-year-old daughter. He was charged with first degree intentional homicide Tuesday.

Stacia Hollinshead, a 30-year-old prosecutor from Sycamore, Illinois, was shot Saturday by her ex-husband, Ulisses W. Medina Espinosa, 31. The shooting took place in Medina Espinosa’s parental home in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, when Hollinshead took the girl there to meet her grandparents. The man's mother called the police after she saw Hollinshead lying on the kitchen floor with Medina Espinosa tossing a gun in the sink.

Police were called to the house and Hollinshead was pronounced dead at the scene. They believe the child was in the living room when the incident happened. Hollinshead suffered 15 gunshot wounds fired at an indeterminate range. Medina Espinosa was immediately taken into custody.

Hollinshead’s death came after a two-year-long divorce case that also included an order of protection against Medina Espinosa for harassment, erratic behavior and several disputes over visitation rights. The divorce was finalized in March 2018 and Medina Espinosa lost visitation rights to their daughter. However, the parents agreed the child should have both of them in her life. On March 15, Medina Espinosa’s right to visit his daughter was reinstated on the condition that Hollinshead supervised the visits.

“More than anything, Stacia cared about her daughter, and she wanted her to have continuity of life and a relationship with her grandparents,” Andrew Morris, Hollinshead’s boyfriend said. He also said he talked to Hollinshead as she drove her daughter to her grandparents, local newspaper DeKalb Daily Chronicle reported.

Hollinshead worked as an assistant state’s attorney at the DeKalb County State Attorney’s Office. She previously served as an intelligence analyst for the U.S. Army and started working at the attorney’s office in November.

Calling her death the “worst possible outcome of domestic violence,” DeKalb County State’s Attorney Rick Amato said in a post on Facebook, “News of Stacia’s death has left us stunned, deeply saddened, struggling to understand how someone we cared for so much could be the victim of such an unimaginably violent act, and wondering how we could have helped her prevent it.”

Hollinshead filed for a divorce in May 2016 and in August the same year, she asked a judge to order Medina Espinosa to stay away from her and limit his parental visitation rights. The court records show Hollinshead cited a pattern of verbal and digital harassment from him. The judge ruled in her favor.

However, Medina Espinosa tried to get back his visitation rights in May 2017 alleging that the child was being abused sexually. The police suggested him to take the girl to the Child Advocacy Center in Woodstock, Georgia. The staff at the center interviewed the child and said they did not believe she was abused. His visitation rights were terminated by court following this. They were finally reinstated on the condition that Medina Espinosa underwent counseling and took parenting classes. The court ordered him not to spend too much time with his daughter or take her on trips or visit his family.

Medina Espinosa appeared in court Tuesday and a cash bond of $2 million was set. The investigators and prosecutors believed it to be a pre-meditated execution after they found ammunition and survival gear at his house. They also believe he had planned to kill himself after shooting his ex-wife as they found two sealed envelope from the crime scene — one addressed to his father and the other to his lawyer. Both the letters had “Will and Testament” written on them.

The preliminary hearing in the shooting was scheduled for May 23.