A Franklin County man accused of beating and murdering his estranged wife in February was indicted by a recent grand jury, courthouse officials said.
Angel Campos Nava, 33, 1948 Franklin 48, Lot 13, Russellville, was indicted on the charge of capital murder by the September grand jury, Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing said.
According to records, Nava was officially charged with murder in the Feb. 22 death of 25-year-old Lesley Hope Plott, who he had been involved in a relationship with off and on since 2003.
Those charges were upgraded to capital murder on Feb. 25 when new evidence was discovered that allegedly proved part of the attack that led to Plott’s death occurred inside her vehicle.
Rushing said this fact gave law enforcement grounds to upgrade the charge to capital murder, and after hearing testimony in the April 15 preliminary hearing, District Judge Paula McDowell bound the case over to the grand jury as a capital murder case.
The evidence that led to the capital murder charge was a surveillance video from Good Shepherd Catholic Church located in the 1700 block of Jackson Avenue in Russellville, which was close to where the murder took place.
Russellville Police investigator Lt. Scotty Lowery testified the video was turned over by church authorities after they had reviewed surveillance tapes that showed what they believed to be the crime taking place.
According to preliminary testimony, Plott and Nava had allegedly been at Plott’s mother’s house the evening of Feb. 21 when he woke her up in the early morning hours of Feb. 22 and demanded she take him to his vehicle so he could go to work.
Lowery said the argument and murder apparently took place during that drive.
Upon viewing the video, Lowery said he could see a black SUV come to an abrupt stop in the southbound lane of Jackson Avenue in front of Good Shepherd Catholic Church and two subjects inside the vehicle appeared to be making lots of movement.
“After about one to two minutes, the driver’s side door flies open and we see what appears to be a female fall out of the vehicle,” Lowery said.
“We then see what appears to be a male walk behind the vehicle and pin the female in between the door and the vehicle.”
Lowery said what ensued was a “violent struggle” in the middle of the road that led to Plott’s death.
Lowery said a preliminary autopsy reported listed the cause of death as deep incise wounds to the neck and revealed Plott had also been badly beaten in the face.
Lowery said a knife handle was found in the roadway near a large amount of blood and the knife blade had been found a short distance away. He added that three other knives were found in the console of Plott’s SUV that had fresh blood on them as well.
Lowery testified that Nava left the scene for a short time before returning, which is where officers later found him after receiving a 911 call at 1:53 a.m. stating there was possibly someone deceased near Good Shepherd Catholic Church.
Lowery said Nava allegedly told officers he had killed his wife before they noticed he had what appeared to be self-inflicted knife wounds that ultimately caused him to remain in the ICU of Huntsville Hospital for several days following the incident.
ABI investigator Brian Faulkner testified the perceived catalyst for the fatal argument on Feb. 22 was Plott’s recent involvement with an old boyfriend, who was also the father of one of her children.
Faulkner said the witness stated he and Plott had seen Nava at a youth basketball game three weeks prior to her death and Nava had told them they would both pay for getting back together.
Nava remains in custody at the Franklin County jail without bond.