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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 Oregon man, who fatally shot his wife just weeks after their wedding, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. The incident involved Talon Gabriel Mitchell, who was 19 at the time, and his wife, Oulaykham Mona Chopheng. Following the tragic event, Mitchell texted 911, claiming he felt as though he was “stuck in a dream.”
Last week, Washington County Circuit Judge Theodore Sims delivered the sentence for the 2023 incident, according to court documents. Mitchell pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree manslaughter with a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon.
The judge’s decision mandates that Mitchell serve the first decade of his sentence without the possibility of parole. However, he may qualify for a reduced sentence during the second half, contingent on good behavior.
Following the shooting, Mitchell reached out to emergency services himself, sending a series of strange messages to a local dispatcher. He claimed to be in a dreamlike state, as reported by Portland’s CBS affiliate KOIN.
Mitchell contacted emergency services himself after the shooting, sending a local dispatcher a series of bizarre messages, including that he was “stuck in a dream,” Portland CBS affiliate KOIN reported.
Investigators later learned Mitchell had taken LSD the morning of the shooting and subsequently told authorities he did not remember firing the gun.
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.