Inset, left to right: Oulaykham Mona Chopheng (Facebook) and Talon G. Mitchell (Washington County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The area in Oregon where Mitchell killed Chopheng (Google Maps).
A 23-year-old man from Oregon has been sentenced to two decades in prison after fatally shooting his wife shortly after their marriage and then texting 911, claiming he was “stuck in a dream.”
Last week, Washington County Circuit Judge Theodore Sims sentenced Talon Gabriel Mitchell, who was 19 at the time of the crime, to 20 years in a state prison for the 2023 murder of Oulaykham Mona Chopheng, according to court documents.
The sentencing occurred on Tuesday following Mitchell’s guilty plea to charges of first-degree manslaughter with a firearm and unlawful weapon use.
Mitchell is required to serve the first 10 years of his sentence without reduction, but he may qualify for a reduced sentence for good behavior during the latter half.
After the incident, Mitchell himself reached out to emergency services, sending a series of unusual messages to a local dispatcher, including one that stated he was “stuck in a dream,” according to Portland CBS affiliate KOIN reported.
Further investigations revealed that Mitchell had consumed LSD the morning of the shooting and later claimed he had no memory of discharging the firearm.
The case began on Feb. 23, 2023, when officers with the Beaverton Police Department responded to a request for a welfare check at an apartment complex in the 1000 block of Southwest 160th Avenue in Beaverton, about 10 miles southwest of Portland. One of the couple’s neighbors called 911 around 10:15 p.m. and reported hearing a woman crying and screaming for help, according to a report from The Oregonian.
When officers arrived and entered the apartment, they found Chopheng dead on the couch from a gunshot wound to the face. Mitchell, who authorities said had visible blood on his shoes, was taken into custody soon afterward.
Witness accounts helped investigators piece together the chaotic moments before police arrived.
Neighbors reported hearing a woman sobbing and a man speaking in short, abrupt sentences coming from the apartment shortly before the shooting, according to court records cited by local media.
According to court documents, Mitchell told investigators he believed he was trapped in a dreamlike state when the shooting occurred.
“HELP, IM STUCK IN A DREAM,” he reportedly wrote in one of the messages sent to emergency authorities. “I’m being controlled,” he wrote in another. Other messages included: “Help me” and “Insanity.”
In an interview with police, Mitchell confessed that he had ingested LSD that morning and then blacked out, KOIN reported. He claimed that he was sitting by the front door of the apartment when he woke up later that evening and saw his wife’s bloody body on the couch. Thinking it was a bad dream or a zombie apocalypse, Mitchell said he decided to text 911.
Before reaching a deal with prosecutors, Mitchell had been scheduled to go to trial on March 31.
