Woman who shot grandmother in the head denied motion for new trial

A Frankfort woman’s motion for a new trial or early release from prison where she’s serving time for accidentally shooting a grandmother in the head has been denied.

Franklin Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate issued an order filed Friday denying Mona Lisa Maupin’s most recent request to overturn a sentence based on newly discovered evidence.

Maupin’s Attorney Jack Flynn had also told Wingate that his client is in poor health and has children at home who need her after filing his motion for relief.

In Maupin’s 2013 plea agreement to wanton endangerment charges, she admitted she fired three shots while threatening to kill Calvin Reece in 2012.

According to court records, one of the shots Maupin fired entered the residence of Patricia Tate and struck her in the left side of her head. Doctors were unable to remove the bullet, causing Tate to live indefinitely with headaches and vision issues.

A five-year-old child was standing next to Tate at the time, and three other adults were nearby.

Maupin, 41, pleaded guilty to six counts of wanton endangerment and tampering with physical evidence and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

She filed a motion for shock probation in 2014 but Wingate denied that motion and stated that the court “cannot in good conscience grant defendant’s request on the grounds that it would seriously mitigate the seriousness of the crimes committed by the Defendant.”

Maupin filed another motion for shock probation in December 2015 based on the same reasons with the addition of new evidence presented as an affidavit obtained from Tate in 2015.

The new affidavit from Tate states she wouldn’t mind if Maupin was granted shock probation in light of her poor health and because she has young children.

Wingate overruled Maupin’s second motion for shock probation but Flynn asked that it be reconsidered.

Wingate’s order denying this motion stated that, “A change in attitude by the victim or a softening in sympathy for the defendant by the victim is insufficient to form a basis for relief.”

Maupin has been in prison since August 2013. She’s held at Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women in Pewee Valley.

According to information from the Kentucky Department of Corrections, Maupin will be eligible for parole in September.

This story was originally published April 19, 2016 at 12:41 PM with the headline "Woman who shot grandmother in the head denied motion for new trial."