A Wisconsin man will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars after fatally shooting his 74-year-old grandmother to stop her from calling police when she found a gun in his room, according to Law & Crime.
Sean C. Couture, 25, was sentenced Tuesday to 26 years to life in prison for the 2024 slaying of Nancy Lovejoy, his grandmother, according to Waukesha County Circuit Judge J. Arthur Melvin III. The court credited Couture with 388 days of time already served records reviewed by Law & Crime show.
Couture pleaded guilty to first-degree intentional homicide with a domestic abuse modifier as part of a plea deal. Prosecutors dropped additional charges of failing to comply with an officer and operating a firearm while intoxicated.
The horrifying crime took place on Aug. 25, 2024, when Waukesha police officers responded to a 911 call just after 8:30 p.m. on the 200 block of Douglass Avenue, about 20 miles west of Milwaukee.
The call came from Couture’s parents, who were out of state on vacation at the time. According to the probable cause affidavit, they told dispatchers that their son had called them and said, “It’s over, it’s over,” adding that he had just shot his grandmother and intended to shoot himself as well.
When authorities arrived, Couture had barricaded himself inside the home. Police deployed a drone, which revealed what appeared to be a woman’s body lying motionless on the stairs to the basement.
After waiting for Couture to enter a bedroom, a rescue team entered and retrieved the victim — later identified as Lovejoy — and transported her to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead from multiple gunshot wounds.
Police later used a K-9 unit to enter the home and detain Couture, who had a blood alcohol level of 0.45 — more than five times the legal driving limit. Inside the home, authorities recovered a handgun, several magazines, and a receipt showing Couture had purchased the firearm on June 4, 2024.
At the hospital, Couture agreed to speak with police and repeatedly referenced his grandmother being shot, despite officers only telling him at that point that she had been injured and died. Eventually, Couture confessed.
“The Defendant ultimately admitted that he and his grandmother began arguing the night of August 25, 2024 after she discovered the firearm in his room,” the affidavit stated.
“The Defendant stated he believed his grandmother was going to call the police about the Defendant having a gun and he shot her as she was just outside the side door to the residence. The Defendant then admitted to dragging [the victim’s] body inside the residence onto the basement stairs where she was found because he didn’t want to leave her body outside.”
Couture also admitted to drinking alcohol
