The Cosplay Cam Girl

Melissa Turner lost about 90 pounds between 2011 and 2013 and turned the change into a living, building an online following as a cosplay model and cam performer. She shared a house in Riverview, a suburb of Tampa, Florida, with her fiancé, Matthew Trussler, who had moved to Florida for a fresh start after struggling with substance abuse.

On October 18, 2019, after a night of heavy drinking, Trussler died from a deep knife wound to his upper arm. Hours later Turner called 911 to say he was unresponsive and told investigators she had found him on the back patio. She later said she had stabbed him to escape his attack. Security cameras contradicted her. The couple’s indoor ADT camera showed a calm Trussler and a furious Turner rushing around, her right hand bloody, and a camera on a neighbor’s garage recorded her screaming at him to get up and to go die.

Prosecutors also stressed the roughly four hours that passed before she called for help. Turner turned down a 25-year plea offer and went to trial. On February 18, 2022, a Hillsborough County jury found her guilty of second-degree murder, and in March 2022 she was sentenced to 20½ years in prison. The judge said neither the jury nor the court believed her account of self-defense.