Left inset: Javier Abeyta (Sweetwater County Detention Center). Right inset: Marissa Allen (Facebook). Background: The 1300 block of O’Henry Drive in Gillette, Wyo., where Javier Abeyta allegedly gunned down Marissa Allen on Oct. 9, 2025 (Google Maps).
A tragic incident unfolded in Wyoming when a man fatally shot a woman who attempted to disarm him after he began behaving erratically with a firearm, according to police reports.
Javier Abeyta, aged 43, was reportedly in a state of distress throughout the day before the shooting of Marissa Allen in Gillette on the night of October 9th. This information comes from an arrest affidavit reviewed by Cowboy State Daily.
Authorities allege that Abeyta had been using methamphetamine while in the company of Allen and several others at a residence on the 1300 block of O’Henry Drive prior to the shooting.
The affidavit indicates that the situation escalated in the garage of the home, where Abeyta fired a Hi-Point semiautomatic 9 mm pistol at Allen when she tried to take the gun from him. Abeyta had allegedly been aiming the weapon at Allen’s boyfriend, reports from the Gillette News Record state.
During the confrontation, Allen noticed Abeyta with a “blank stare” before he attempted to shoot her boyfriend in the back of the head. However, the gun failed to fire. At this point, Abeyta allegedly turned his attention to Allen.
According to the affidavit, after the shots were fired, Abeyta confessed to a witness outside the home, saying, “I shot her,” as the witness rushed to the scene upon hearing the commotion.
“I killed her,” he allegedly said. “Get out of my way or I will shoot you too.”
Abeyta’s sister later told police that he had been acting very paranoid leading up to the shooting and was taken to a local hospital earlier in the day by her because she thought he was dehydrated from drinking alcohol.
People at the home with Abeyta allegedly said he believed the group was trying to kill him. Abeyta can be heard on surveillance video obtained from a nearby residence yelling as kids in the neighborhood ride bikes out front, according to the affidavit. A parent told the children to go inside right as the gunfire rang out, the Record reports.
Police allegedly recovered a bullet in the drywall of the garage and a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun that was linked to Abeyta. Allen was rushed to a local hospital after the shooting and then airlifted to a medical center in Colorado, where she was declared brain dead, per reports.
Local court officials told Law&Crime on Wednesday that Abeyta has a lengthy criminal record, with multiple arrests in the past for various crimes. He was being held on a $1 million bond for attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault, but prosecutors expect the charges to be upgraded on account of Allen’s condition.
“This will probably get upgraded to an actual murder,” said a Campbell County prosecutor during Abeyta’s bond hearing on Tuesday, according to the Record.
