A woman who is behind bars in Georgia allegedly shot and killed an Ocala man because she believed he was unable to help her regain custody of her children.
That’s according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, which has been conducting an investigation in the shooting death of 50-year Christopher Hallett on Sunday night at a residence at 16062 SW 34th Court Rd. in Marion Oaks. Sheriff’s deputies responded to the home after receiving reports of a shooting and when they arrived, they discovered that Hallett had died after sustaining numerous gunshot wounds, a report states.
An eyewitness told detectives that 33-year-old Neely Petrie-Blanchard was the person who had shot Hallett, the report says. A Major Crimes detective gathered more information from the eyewitness and generated a photo lineup. The eyewitness identified Petrie-Blanchard as the suspect and since she apparently had fled the scene, a nationwide alert was issued for her vehicle.
A sheriff’s deputy in Lowndes County, Ga., called his brother, who is a Marion County sheriff’s deputy, to get more information about Petrie-Blanchard’s vehicle. A short time later, the deputy spotted Petrie-Blanchard  at a gas station and took her into custody, the report says.
Petrie-Blanchard has been charged in the homicide and is being held at the Lowndes County, Ga., Jail on no bond. She is awaiting extradition back to Marion County, the report says.