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A South Carolina man took the stand Wednesday, admitting to killing a woman inside her home in 2021 to save her child. The jury convicted him of murder Thursday.
Zachary Hughes, 32, admitted in court testimony to killing Christina Parcell, according to WYFF4. Parcell was found stabbed to death in her home in Greer with over 30 stab wounds, including to her carotid arteries and jugular, Fox Carolina reported. The jury found Hughes guilty of murdering Parcell after briefly deliberating.
Hughes was held in contempt during his testimony after violating Judge Patrick Fant's order banning references to the alleged sexual abuse of John Mello's daughter, whom he shared with Parcell or child pornography during the trial, WYFF4 reported. Hughes said he first encountered Mello and his daughter in Greenville, South Carolina back in 2020. Mello and Parcell are the parents of the daughter, who was 8 years old at the time.
Hughes told the court he became worried about the girl's safety in October 2020 and became increasingly worried after visiting Mello in Italy around May 2021 as Mello was also concerned for his daughter's well-being.
"Since the end of June, I believed [the child] was in complete and grave danger every moment of her life that she was living with her mother, and the other things that I had tried to do to save her from that were not working," Hughes testified. (RELATED: Man Walks Into Baltimore Police Station, Confesses To Decade-Old, Double-Murder Cold Case)
Solicitor Walt Wilkins sought to prove the prosecution's theory that Hughes wanted to help his friend Mello win a custody battle with Parcell, Fox Carolina reported.
"John Mello had a custody problem and the only way to solve it was murder," Wilkins told the jury in his closing argument.
The defendant claimed he filed an affidavit and reached out to the Department of Social Services before Parcell's death, WYFF4 reported. Days before the woman was killed, Hughes was offered a new job which would require him to leave the country.
"I had gotten this offer to go on this cruise ship, and I would have been leaving the country for a long time. Essentially, it was now or never," he testified.
He told the court he at first planned to kill the woman with a gun but decided instead to use a knife he had bought as it was quieter. He said he wanted to make sure Parcell was alone as he did not want anyone else around.
Hughes testified that he showed up at he residence on Oct. 13, 2021 with a gift-wrapped box of roses, telling Parcell he had a delivery for her sister. He told the court he had an unloaded gun, a knife, gloves and paint thinner on hand.
Hughes testified that he drew the firearm upon realizing Parcell was home alone, ordering her inside where he said she fought for her life.
"I just kept striking her and striking her until finally, we fell on the floor, and at this point, I had just tried to take my mind out of it and just try to get through this and finish it as quickly as possible," he said.
Hughes was found guilty on five of seven charges, including murder, possessing a weapon amid a violent crime, first-degree burglary, second-degree harassment and conspiracy to commit second-degree harassment, according to Fox Carolina.