A woman from South Bend was found guilty of a slew of felonies on Thursday after a LaPorte County jury convicted 36-year-old Thessalonica Allen of killing and then dismembering her husband in 2021.
Court documents say Thessalonica Allen shot her husband Randy Allen in an apartment on 18th Street in LaPorte. The woman then forced her two teenage children to help clean up blood from the crime scene and help drag the body to a car.
Allen was allegedly going to drive to South Bend and dump the body there, but Randy Allen’s corpse proved too heavy, so prosecutors said Thessalonica Allen bought an axe and cut up the body and put it in a closet.
One of the children reportedly told detectives the fatal confrontation started when Randy Allen saw one of Thessalonica’s messages on social media.
During a trial this week, Thessalonica Allen’s lawyer said Randy Allen was abusive and that Thessalonica had a protective order against him at the time of the killing. Thessalonica Allen argued she killed Randy in self-defense but it took the jury less than 30 minutes to find her guilty on all counts.
A sentencing date has not been set.
