An Oklahoma woman sentenced to 16 years in prison for slashing the corpse of her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend during a funeral viewing.
Shaynna Lauren Sims, 29, pleaded not guilty to first-degree burglary and unauthorized removal of body parts from a body.
Prosecutors, on the other hand, called 12 witnesses who gradually pieced together how Sims won the trust of those closest to the deceased woman by assuring family and friends that she was a skilled makeup artist who wanted to help prepare the victim’s body for a funeral viewing.
Instead of assisting, Sims allegedly took body parts from the victim, stole her shoes, and slashed the woman’s face moments before a public funeral viewing.
Sims was sentenced to seven years in prison for first-degree burglary, five years for unlawfully removing a body part from a deceased person, two years for knowingly concealing stolen property, one year for unauthorized dissection, and one year for disrupting or interrupting a funeral by Tulsa County District Judge Kelly Greenough.
‘She had makeup and lipstick smeared all over her face; her hair was just all over the place,’ the victim’s mother, Charlotte Wheeler, testified during the trial as she choked back tears.
Two funeral home employees also described their gruesome discoveries.
Robert Gardner, the funeral director, described how two girls came into his office during the viewing, claiming that someone had ‘pulled a glob of hair’ from the dead woman and left it on the floor.
Lawrence Hutchings, the parlor’s security and maintenance manager, described how the victim’s breasts and a toe were removed. The body parts were never discovered.
Sims was arrested after attending the viewing at the deceased woman’s apartment.
Two prosecutors told jurors during closing arguments that the defense was’slut-shaming’ the deceased because Lynch was having an affair with Sims’ estranged husband.
Sims’ attorney denied this, claiming that his client was “not in the right frame of mind” because the adultery had humiliated, broken her heart, embarrassed, and angered her.
After Sims’ conviction, Assistant District Attorney Tanya Wilson told TulsaWorld.com, “We understand a person being jealous; we understand a person being angry.” ‘And she probably had every right to be, but she went too far.’
