Naman Shrestha
Joyce Pelzer was responsible for the 2011 murder of her ex-girlfriend, Shawndell McLeod. However, she managed to evade justice for several years until she killed her estranged wife, Rosalyn Lewis, in December 2018. After a high-speed chase, Joyce was finally apprehended and brought to justice. Her gruesome crimes are at the center of the episode titled ‘A Fatal Attraction’ of Netflix’s ‘Worst Ex Ever.’ The documentary also features an exclusive and insightful interview with Katie Long, Joyce’s ex-girlfriend, who served as a key witness to bring the killer to justice.
Joyce Pelzer Killed Her Ex-Girlfriend After a Nasty Breakup
The 1976-born woman, Joyce Marie Lewis-Pelzer, dated Shawndell McLeod, who later went missing in September 2011. After her sudden disappearance, Shawndell’s family blamed Joyce. While they were in a relationship, it is alleged that Joyce was verbally, physically, and emotionally abusive towards Shawndell. While Joyce made Shawndell end certain friendships and relationships that she didn’t approve of, she had an affair with Rosalyn Lewis on the side. The affair eventually led to their breakup in 2011. Following the separation, Joyce removed everything from the home they shared, including the furniture, fixtures, and toilet seats.
In July 2011, she also allegedly broke into the residence in the middle of the night and threatened to kill Shawndell with a knife. Traumatized by the incident and scared for her life, Shawndell obtained a temporary protective order against Joyce. Prior to her disappearance, Shawndell purchased a gun for self-defense and also told her friends that if anything happened to her, Joyce would be responsible. Thus, when she went missing on September 25, 2011, the authorities suspected Joyce to be involved in her disappearance. As per Joyce’s accounts, she hired a hitman to get rid of her ex-girlfriend with the help of Rosalyn. The trio then allegedly abducted Shawndell and held her hostage for a couple of days before burying her alive in a shallow grave in the North Georgia woods.
A few days later, on September 29, Joyce was interviewed by the authorities, who asked her about her whereabouts on September 24 and 25. She claimed she was with her girlfriend, Rosalyn, all weekend and left the house only to walk their dogs. Joyce also told them she had gone to work on September 26, but it turned out to be a lie. Moreover, her cell phone records didn’t place her at her home on September 24 and 25. Since the police lacked enough evidence, they couldn’t arrest either Joyce or Rosalyn. While the case went cold, Joyce and Rosalyn tied the knot and began a new chapter in their lives. Not long after, their marriage also began deteriorating.
Joyce Pelzer Confessed to Shawndell McLeod’s Murder to Her New Girlfriend
In 2016, Joyce began talking to Katie Long, a home health care aide based in Largo, Florida, on social media. Claiming to be a registered nurse at her hydrocolonic clinic and separated from her wife, Rosalyn, Joyce met Katie in person and began dating her. A few months later, in September 2017, Joyce told Katie that she had killed her ex-girlfriend, Shawndell, in September 2011. Meanwhile, Shawndell’s homicide was being reinvestigated. In August 2018, the detectives reportedly reached out to Katie, who told them about Joyce’s confession. Katie then pretended to still be on Joyce’s side, as she was told to try to record her confession to Shawndell’s murder. During a recorded phone call on August 17, 2018, Joyce informed Katie that she was headed to New Orleans, where Rosalyn had recently moved.
She discussed her plan to kill her estranged wife, who had filed for divorce, by luring her back to a Georgia hotel, where she would ambush her in her car and shoot her to death. Joyce then planned to frame Rosalyn for Shawndell’s murder. Although Katie informed the authorities about Joyce’s murderous plot, they couldn’t save Rosalyn in time as Joyce ambushed her at a Motel 6 in Conyers, Georgia, on December 10, 2018, and stabbed her more than 30 times. When the paramedics and authorities arrived at the scene, Rosalyn not only identified herself but also told them that Joyce was responsible for stabbing her. Unfortunately, she later succumbed to her injuries. A manhunt for Joyce was launched, and law enforcement issued a BOLO (be on the lookout) for her.
As the police located her speeding on I-75 in south Georgia, they used a PIT maneuver to bring her to a stop. She pulled out her gun and pointed it towards the approaching officers, after which they opened fire on the vehicle she was in. The search of her car led to the discovery of bloody clothing and the knife she used to kill Rosalyn. Despite one of the bullets striking her in the neck, she managed to survive and recover. When the detectives interviewed her a few days later, she alleged that Rosalyn had orchestrated Shawndell’s murder and buried her remains at Arabia Mountain. However, the authorities couldn’t find her remains.
Joyce Pelzer is Currently Serving Two Life Terms in a Georgia Prison Facility
About a year later, in December 2019, Joyce Pelzer confessed to killing her estranged wife, Rosalyn Lewis. However, she maintained that Rosalyn was responsible for Shawndell’s murder as she hired two guys to drug her and bury her in a ravine in Arabia Mountain. In January 2021, Joyce pleaded guilty to Rosalyn’s murder in exchange for a lesser sentence. Thus, she was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Already serving a life term, Joyce also stood trial for Shawndell’s murder in November 2023.
During the trial, her ex-girlfriend, Katie, testified against her, providing the jury with a detailed account of Joyce’s confession about killing Shawndell. Despite Shawndell’s remains still missing, on December 1, 2023, the jury found her guilty of malice murder and felony murder, in connection with the 2011 killing. A couple of months later, in February 2024, she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. As of today, Joyce Marie Lewis-Pelzer is serving her sentence at Pulaski State Prison in Hawkinsville, Georgia.
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