Felon receives life sentence for death of Pell City woman killed while trying to prevent car break-in

A convicted felon who was among two suspects charged with the 2022 murder of a Pell City woman who was fatally run over while trying to thwart a car break-in was sentenced to life in prison Monday

As part of an agreement with prosecutors, Shawna Alyssa Masten, 31, of Pell City, pleaded guilty in St. Clair County District Court to three counts of murder and 14 other felonies in connection with the 2022 death of 46-year-old Rebekah Poe, records show.

St. Clair County District Court Judge Phil Seay signed the deal, which dropped only one of the 18 charges against Masten: second-degree robbery.

According to court records, the case against the other suspect, 31-year-old Christopher Cody Masters of Pell City, is in the pretrial phase.

According to police, it was just before 7:30 p.m. that evening in November 2022 when Poe, who served at her church and was a long-time popular employee at Waffle House, confronted suspects who had just broken into vehicles at a residence on Skyline Trail.

Police said at the time that the two suspects – a man and a woman – were traveling in a dark, possibly black Dodge Charger toward Stemley Bridge Road in Pell City.

Pell City Police Chief Clay Morris called Poe's death “one of the most tragic crimes we have experienced in Pell City” in an earlier press conference.

Morris said the lengthy investigation was intense, thorough and targeted. Investigators identified 5,000 potentially suspect vehicles, analyzed 10,000 digital devices and obtained 15,000 records from communications companies. More than 30 search warrants were executed during the investigation.

Morris said the couple left Alabama immediately after Poe's death and had no intention of returning.

The chief said he was confident in the evidence linking them to the crime.

“We can definitely place them at the crime scene,” Morris said.

Masten has been arrested multiple times in the Bessemer Cutoff and Birmingham districts of Jefferson County since 2016. She pleaded guilty to drug possession in 2021 and received a 24-month prison sentence.

Masters has also been arrested several times in Alabama, including in Jefferson, Lauderdale, Talladega and Marion counties. Most recently, he pleaded guilty to burglary of a vehicle in 2021.

When Poe died, Masters had only been out of state prison for five months, and Masten had been in prison for about nine months.

Poe left behind a husband and two daughters.