After granting a motion to allow the lawyer for Melissa Fox-Beacom to hire a private investigator, Westmoreland County Judge Megan Bilik-DeFazio has scheduled another status conference for July 18th. Fox-Beacom is charged with criminal homicide, first degree murder, solicitation to murder, and related conspiracy offenses in the 2023 shooting death of her mother, 71-year-old Alice Robson as Robson sat in a chair at her home along Furnace Lane in St. Clair Township, outside of New Florence.
Robert Jack and Matthew Bates, both 19, are the accused shooters, with both saying the other pulled the trigger. Prosecutors claim they did it on the orders of Fox-Beacom, who was involved in a child custody dispute over a special needs toddler, who was sleeping nearby when the shooting occurred.
The judge has also ruled that threats made by Fox-Beacom against her mother, including a threat to kill her, will be admissible at trial. No trial date has been set for the three defendants.
