A local woman who allegedly shot her husband during a domestic incident in Georgetown Township is slated for a preliminary examination Oct. 31 in Ottawa County’s 58th District Court before Judge Craig Bunce.
Michelle Matos-Colon, 49, is suspected of killing her husband, Eleser Montano, 52.
According to the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office, Montano was shot and killed in an apartment the couple shared on Brookmeadow Court in Georgetown Township on Sept. 25. Matos-Colon is charged with open murder, and her bond is set at $1 million. She remains lodged in the Ottawa County Jail.
Open murder is a combination of first- and second-degree murder, allowing the jury to decide the degree based on the evidence presented at trial. Second-degree murder can carry up to life in prison, but first-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.
What happened before the shooting Sept. 25?
According to reporting by WZZM, court documents say Matos-Colon called 911 to report she’d killed her husband because he assaulted her.
Matos-Colon reportedly told detectives she’d been a victim of domestic violence for “several years” and that most of the incidents were unreported. She added she and her husband were having problems in the days before the shooting, and that Montano had been staying outside the home.
According to WZZM, Montano came over in the morning hours of Sept. 25. Matos-Colon said there was arguing, and Montano was near the front door. She accessed her handgun, court documents say, as Montano “started coming toward her in an aggressive manner.” She allegedly pointed the gun and shot him in the face.
The documents further say Matos-Colon knew her husband didn’t have any weapons on him, but that he’d used his hands “to slap her face and push her off the couch” that morning.
Matos-Colon reportedly told detectives she’d consumed 29 cans of beer between 4 p.m. the previous day and 8 a.m. that morning. Her blood alcohol content was .145 when she was tested around 11:45 a.m. — nearly double the legal driving limit four hours after she’d allegedly stopped drinking.
Matos-Colon told detectives she was intoxicated when she shot her husband.
“(Matos-Colon) believes she shot him because she was angry at the many years of abuse, and she was intoxicated,” according to court documents. “(Matos-Colon) stated she (wouldn’t have) shot him if she was sober.”
— Cassidey Kavathas is the politics and court reporter at The Holland Sentinel. Contact her at ckavathas@hollandsentinel.com. Follow her on X and Bluesky @cassideykava.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Georgetown Township woman accused of shooting husband cited alcohol, abuse
Reporting by Cassidey Kavathas, Holland Sentinel / The Holland Sentinel
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