Left: Heather Anderson (Waterbury (Conn.) Police Department) Right: Shelley Stamp (via Casey's Eastside Memorial Funeral Home obituary)
Shelley Stamp was 34 years old when she was found dead in a pool of blood by her brother-in-law. A pair of broken glasses lay at her side.
Heather Anderson, 36, stands accused of murder during the commission of a felony for Stamp's death at her own apartment in Waterbury, Connecticut last year. The defendant has also been charged with counts of conspiracy to commit home invasion, robbery in the first degree, assault in the first degree, larceny in the sixth degree, burglary in the first degree, and illegal use of credit cards.
Recent courtroom posturing has the victim's family incensed. A previous plea deal offered by the state was recently changed by the judge overseeing the case. Now, the process has taken a pause.
Earlier this year, prosecutors suggested the alleged murderess spend 36 years in prison in exchange for accepting legal culpability over Stamp's death, according to the New Haven Register. In response, Anderson's defense attorney suggested the Nutmeg State's minimum sentence for murder: 25 years behind bars. Superior Court Judge Joseph Schwartz then tried to more or less split the difference.
"The judge came back offering 30 years," Stamp's mother, Kathy Daversa, said outside the Waterbury courthouse this week, in comments reported by the paper. "I find that unacceptable."
Daversa continued to disparage the court's potential show of leniency in comments to Hartford-based Fox affiliate WTIC.
"You want to offer 30 years for the life of an innocent woman coming home from her third job, into her own home, her own sanctuary, brutally murdered, strangled, hit in the head and left to die?" the distraught mother asked out loud outside the courthouse steps.
Stamp's sister, Laura Tajildeen, echoed that displeasure.
"For them to bring it down more, we're pretty upset about it," she told the TV station. "Like she said, she was strangled with her own jacket by this woman and it was brutal and my poor husband found her."
Stamp worked as a paraprofessional with Waterbury Public Schools since 2005. She also worked various waitressing jobs.
"She was caring, loving, she was a paraprofessional, she worked with preschool students with special needs," Daversa told WTIC.
On Oct. 29, 2022, Sam Tajildeen went to Stamp's apartment because family members had not heard from her all day. After making the discovery and calling 911, official help arrived just after 10:00 p.m. Firefighters and paramedics turned the woman – who was face down on the floor – over to find her head, face and neck wrapped with a shirt or jacket, according to arrest warrant applications obtained by the Register. Part of the garment had been stuffed inside her mouth.
According to law enforcement, Anderson and another woman, Shannon Gritzbach, 37, traveled to Stamp's apartment the night before. Anderson was allegedly looking for a man she thought would give her money. That man used to live in the apartment where Stamp lived but had since moved to another unit in the building.
Surveillance footage shows Anderson unsuccessfully trying to get into Stamp's unit at around 11:55 p.m., police say. Later footage shows the defendant walking back toward the apartment when Stamp arrived home from work roughly 20 minutes later, police say.
Anderson would go on to admit that she shouldered Stamp to the ground, face-first, and stole several items from her apartment – including $70 in cash, credit cards, and food from the victim's refrigerator, according to the Waterbury Police Department. The defendant said she heard agonized breathing but did not stop to help Stamp; she denied tying the shirt or jacket around her head, police say.
"To know Shelley is to love her!" Stamp's obituary reads. "She had a heart of gold. She certainly had the gift of gab and was taken from us all too soon. Her life was a blessing, her memory a treasure. She was loved beyond words and will missed beyond measure."
In warrants obtained by the Hartford Courant, police allege Anderson stole a container full of spaghetti out of the victim's fridge. Investigators say Stamp's debit card was used four times after her death: once at a Burger King, and three times at a gas station. The final two attempts at the gas station, however, were declined by the bank.
Police say Anderson had Stamp's license, health insurance card, and credit card on her possession when she was arrested in November 2022. Gritzbach was taken into custody a few days later.
Law enforcement do not believe Gritzbach entered the apartment. She was initially charged with murder as well as other serious charges. Gritzbach was later released on misdemeanor charges.
Anderson is currently detained in lieu of $1.75 million bail.
Daversa is also upset about the new timelines in the case.
During a hearing on Wednesday, Judge Schwartz continued the case until Nov. 29 in order for Stamp's family to offer formal input.
"The plea deal was supposed to be given in August and it wasn't, " Stamp's mother said after the hearing. "We had to come back today, and it wasn't. Now we have to come back in November."
The family continued to savage the new offer to Stamp's alleged killer.
"My daughter was 34, he is offering 30 years for my daughter's life," Daversa said on Wednesday in comments reported by the Register. "I never saw her get married, I will not see her give me grandchildren."
"We went into this knowing that 36 years would be the maximum," Tajildeen added. "For them to bring it down more, it's not fair they are offering this. My poor husband found her. I have two kids ages 8 and 14 and they are struggling every day. I am struggling every day."
