No one likes to be dumped by someone they’re madly in love with, but when Shayna Hubers realised her lawyer boyfriend Ryan was not only ending things, he’d already lined up a date with a stunning beauty queen, her reaction was extreme.
Shayna fired six bullets into Ryan – one straight into his face.
"I gave him the nose job he’d always wanted," she later bragged. Later, a judge would brand the killing as the most cold-blooded act he’d seen in the three decades of his career and police would be
left speechless by her crazed confessions.
University graduate Shayna was 21 when she started dating handsome lawyer Ryan Poston, 29. He had his own practice specialising in personal injury claims and had a promising future ahead of him.
The pair dated on and off for a year, with Ryan telling friends he wanted to finish with Shayna but didn’t want to hurt her feelings. She was sending him endless phone messages and would turn up at his flat unannounced. Finally, Ryan told his step-dad, Jay, he was going to end the relationship.
Blood on the walls
On the night of October 12, 2012, Shayna made a hysterical 911 call from Ryan’s Kentucky penthouse apartment and reported a shooting.
"I’m standing about 10ft from his dead body!" Shayna screamed to the operator. When asked what had happened, she replied, "Ma’am, I killed my boyfriend."Ryan’s bullet-ridden body was found slumped near a dining table with six gunshot wounds – one to the face. There was blood on the floor, over furniture and up the walls. It was a grisly scene.
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| The scene |
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| Audrey |
When questioned by police, Shayna continued to insist that Ryan had turned violent and attacked her, but she soon shocked officers with a series of confessions. Without prompting, Shayna was horrifyingly cold about the man she’d just shot dead.
"He’s very vain. One of the last conversations we had that was good was that he wants to get a nose job," she was recorded saying. "I shot him right here.Shayna said Ryan had pushed her and thrown her against the furniture.
I gave him the nose job he wanted…"
"He said, 'You’re just a hillbilly from Kentucky.' And I am," Shayna said. "I guess the hillbilly came out in me and I stood up for myself."Love turned to hate
Ryan was an avid gun enthusiast and there had been a gun on the table.
Shayna casually expressed a worry about potential prison conditions.
"If you go to jail, are you allowed to keep your phone?" she asked. "Can you shower there? Or do you just get really dirty?"Rather than cry over the man she supposedly loved, she was flippant.
"I don’t know if anyone will ever want to marry me if they know that I killed a boyfriend in self-defence."When officers left the room, Shayna twirled around shouting, "I killed him, I killed him."
She was held on bail for nearly £1 million. While in prison waiting for the trial, Shayna even confessed to a cellmate that she’d cackled when she shot Ryan.
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| Shayna |
In April this year, the trial began in Kentucky. While Shayna pleaded self-defence, the jury watched the video of her shocking revelations after her arrest.
"I shot him enough times to kill him, so that he wouldn’t suffer," they watched her admit. "He was laying there, twitching and making noises, and I shot him in the head.The prosecution argued that Shayna had killed Ryan in a fit of jealous rage because he was ending the relationship and going on a date with Miss Ohio hours later.
"I was watching him die – it was painful to watch and to know that I had done that."
Audrey, who was also a runner-up Miss USA, revealed she was looking forward to seeing Ryan on their date. They were due to meet in a bar for drinks and a game of pool. He never showed.
Shayna and Ryan’s flawed relationship was revealed in a series of text messages. Shayna sent one to a friend that read:
"He says he is only with me [because] I make him feel so awful when I cry. My love has turned to hate."Before Ryan’s death, the pair had gone to a shooting range together. That day Shayna sent a friend a text that read:
"When I go to the shooting range [with] Ryan tonight I want to turn around and shoot and kill him and play like [it’s] an accident."More texts from Ryan showed that he wanted to break up with Shayna and he revealed he was happy to say she had ended the relationship if that made her feel better.
Shayna’s defence team tried to argue Ryan was a threat to her that night and he was standing after the first few shots, showing he was coming towards her. But the prosecution said Ryan was sitting at the table and there was no sign of a struggle.
There is no other justification for six bullets…" they said. "That is cold-blooded murder."In April this year, Shayna, 24, was found guilty of first degree murder. The court room was packed with Ryan’s loved ones, who broke down at the news. Shayna remained emotionless.
Ryan’s family released a statement.
"The senselessness of this action is a tragedy for all families – both Ryan’s and his assailant’s… Ryan believed in the legal system. And today it worked."Two months later, Shayna was sentenced to 40 years in prison, with no option of early parole and was condemned by the judge for showing zero remorse.
Ryan had been ready to move on and find someone new, but Shayna made sure if she couldn’t have him, no one would.