Found Deceased CA - Melodee Buzzard, 9, Vandenberg Village, 14 Oct 2025 *Mother arrested*

[Knox]

I am not in any way defending this evil, evil act.

But as a mental health professional specialising in psychosis, this is simply not correct, and misinformation could potentially harm other vulnerable people.

People in psychosis often appear very confident and organised. When you talk to them there are usually signs (disorganised speech, for example) but sometimes it's impossible to tell if someone is in a state of psychosis unless you ask about whatever the specific delusion is. The stereotype of psychotics being visibly chaotic and disturbed is sometimes true, but generally only at extremes. Patients who are in a state of acute psychosis can appear extremely focused and to have clarity of purpose, and can come up with and execute complex plans, because all of their focus is 100% single-mindedly set on achieving whatever task they feel compelled to by their delusion. (Talk to anyone who's ever worked in a psychiatric hospital, patients with psychosis are infamous for being "sneaky", and also for appearing to be very lucid and sane, until they say something which reveals that they are not.)

I shared a personal story before of a loved one who became psychotic, her specific delusion was that she was convinced that she was being watched at all times by some shadowy authority. She managed to come up with and carry out a very intelligent and complex plan that involved travelling quite some distance in a way that avoided all CCTV cameras. Purely out of the delusion that this shadow person was watching her in real time, hopping between different CCTV cameras to do so.

Most people who are in psychosis utterly reject the idea that they are in psychosis, because one of the problems with psychosis is that psychotic people feel extremely lucid. The whole point about psychosis is that you're convinced that your specific delusion is 100% real, and that delusion is the most important thing in your life.


But I don't think she is in a state of psychosis, simply because someone in psychosis would tell everyone, "yes I got rid of the demon possessing my little girl's body, isn't that wonderful?" or something similar. She wouldn't have awareness that what she'd done was wrong (which A clearly does, as she stonewalled and refused to cooperate with police), and she wouldn't have enough awareness of being mentally ill to plead insanity.

Thank you for the information, much appreciated.

Ashlee's Mom stated she is bipolar. Do you have an opinion as to whether that could relate to her choice to murder Melodee?

 

[Twick]

Sweet Jes


Sweet Jesus and His Mother, when did Ashlee turn into elderly woman? If I did not know her age I'd think she's in her sixties Is she addicted to something...?

I think it’s the hair, which seems both curled like they did in the 1960s and colored so it looks like badly dyed white hair. Perhaps she keeps it like that since she wears wigs?

 

[SusieQbeam]

"committing the murder by means of lying in wait"
Pure evil. Poor little angel. The very person Melodee was supposed to be able to trust to protect her from harm is the one who selfishly, deliberately and elaborately planned her death. All the evasive actions (disguises, switched plates, backing into gas stations, stonewalling the police) tell me that AB knew that what she was doing was terribly wrong. AB thought that she was shrewd, but LE has enough evidence to prove otherwise. She coldly, intentionally and consciously ended her own daughter's life.
Her behavior was despicable and inherently wicked. She certainly deserves her due!! Justice for Melodee. Sending prayers for the family and friends of this beautiful child. RIP Melodee MOO

 

[OneLove]

I am not in any way defending this evil, evil act.

But as a mental health professional specialising in psychosis, this is simply not correct, and misinformation could potentially harm other vulnerable people.

People in psychosis often appear very confident and organised. When you talk to them there are usually signs (disorganised speech, for example) but sometimes it's impossible to tell if someone is in a state of psychosis unless you ask about whatever the specific delusion is. The stereotype of psychotics being visibly chaotic and disturbed is sometimes true, but generally only at extremes. Patients who are in a state of acute psychosis can appear extremely focused and to have clarity of purpose, and can come up with and execute complex plans, because all of their focus is 100% single-mindedly set on achieving whatever task they feel compelled to by their delusion. (Talk to anyone who's ever worked in a psychiatric hospital, patients with psychosis are infamous for being "sneaky", and also for appearing to be very lucid and sane, until they say something which reveals that they are not.)

I shared a personal story before of a loved one who became psychotic, her specific delusion was that she was convinced that she was being watched at all times by some shadowy authority. She managed to come up with and carry out a very intelligent and complex plan that involved travelling quite some distance in a way that avoided all CCTV cameras. Purely out of the delusion that this shadow person was watching her in real time, hopping between different CCTV cameras to do so.

Most people who are in psychosis utterly reject the idea that they are in psychosis, because one of the problems with psychosis is that psychotic people feel extremely lucid. The whole point about psychosis is that you're convinced that your specific delusion is 100% real, and that delusion is the most important thing in your life.


But I don't think she is in a state of psychosis, simply because someone in psychosis would tell everyone, "yes I got rid of the demon possessing my little girl's body, isn't that wonderful?" or something similar. She wouldn't have awareness that what she'd done was wrong (which A clearly does, as she stonewalled and refused to cooperate with police), and she wouldn't have enough awareness of being mentally ill to plead insanity.

Thank you for this educational and enlightening post. The person I knew that twice nearly ended the life of her infant in my presence was bipolar with schizo-affective disorder and experiencing psychosis often in the months after giving birth.

She "learned" how to tell whether her delusions and hallucinations were real or not by judging other people's reactions to her statements. Once she screamed in horror that her freshly pumped breast milk was blood then recognized by the look on my face that it must be psychosis and quickly retreated with a feeble "just kidding" followup. She also heard voices telling her to do horrible things. It was quite disabling and took hospitalization, treatment, medications, and counseling to stabilize.

That said, I do believe Melodee's mother knew what she was doing when she did it and knew it was wrong, psychosis or not. Because she had not been amenable to treatment or oversight of any kind, she could never be trusted in society again and life in prison seems appropriate.

 

[LetsSolvIt]

A spent bullet casing was found inside the home, and a similar round of live ammunition was found in the car, the sheriff said.
…
Cartridge cases found at the scene were flagged in the NIBIN database as linked to the single cartridge that was found at Buzzard’s home, the sheriff said. Prosecutors later wrote that Buzzard allegedly killed Melodee using a 9mm gun.
…
the “ruthlessness” of the killing and the degree of alleged premeditation are difficult to understand.

“This level of criminal activity is particularly shocking given the calculated, cold-blooded and criminally sophisticated premeditation and heartlessness that went into planning it

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/12/26/us/melodee-ashlee-buzzard-investigation

Interesting/weird that a spent bullet casing was found in AB home. What? Did she bring one home from murder scene as a souvenir?

 

[Spectrix]

Is that what the motive is (CPS)?

Involvement (or fear of involvement) with CPS coupled with a desire to keep Melodee away from other family members is a possible theory on motive.
Having said that, it's important to understand that Ashlee is known to be both secretive and dishonest, so we may never truely know why she did what she did.

 

[HollyHunter9]

I am not in any way defending this evil, evil act.

But as a mental health professional specialising in psychosis, this is simply not correct, and misinformation could potentially harm other vulnerable people.

People in psychosis often appear very confident and organised. When you talk to them there are usually signs (disorganised speech, for example) but sometimes it's impossible to tell if someone is in a state of psychosis unless you ask about whatever the specific delusion is. The stereotype of psychotics being visibly chaotic and disturbed is sometimes true, but generally only at extremes. Patients who are in a state of acute psychosis can appear extremely focused and to have clarity of purpose, and can come up with and execute complex plans, because all of their focus is 100% single-mindedly set on achieving whatever task they feel compelled to by their delusion. (Talk to anyone who's ever worked in a psychiatric hospital, patients with psychosis are infamous for being "sneaky", and also for appearing to be very lucid and sane, until they say something which reveals that they are not.)

I shared a personal story before of a loved one who became psychotic, her specific delusion was that she was convinced that she was being watched at all times by some shadowy authority. She managed to come up with and carry out a very intelligent and complex plan that involved travelling quite some distance in a way that avoided all CCTV cameras. Purely out of the delusion that this shadow person was watching her in real time, hopping between different CCTV cameras to do so.

Most people who are in psychosis utterly reject the idea that they are in psychosis, because one of the problems with psychosis is that psychotic people feel extremely lucid. The whole point about psychosis is that you're convinced that your specific delusion is 100% real, and that delusion is the most important thing in your life.


But I don't think she is in a state of psychosis, simply because someone in psychosis would tell everyone, "yes I got rid of the demon possessing my little girl's body, isn't that wonderful?" or something similar. She wouldn't have awareness that what she'd done was wrong (which A clearly does, as she stonewalled and refused to cooperate with police), and she wouldn't have enough awareness of being mentally ill to plead insanity.

Thankyou for your insight into MH / psychosis. Perhaps I worded it incorrectly and psychosis was not the correct terminology but rather mental health issues. (I'm thinking of what she might try to use as defence when it comes to trial) But how much she planned to not get caught...the wigs, switching license plates, not talking to police shows a level of awareness that she knew what she was doing was wrong and did not want to get caught.

 

[HollyHunter9]

Is that what the motive is (CPS)?

IMO - I think she didn't want melodee to be removed and put in care of other family members. Partly because it's likely more info might come out about how they had been living (possible abuse/neglect) and I also think she enjoyed the control she had over melodee and also by using melodee as a weapon to hurt family members who wanted to see melodee and be involved in her life.

 

[iamshadow21]

I wish they would have got a picture looking straight on, I wanted to see her eyes.

@Insightful1 - did she exhibit any emotion at all in the courtroom today? What was her demeanor? Also, what's the blue thing on her wrist?

View attachment 633136

The wristband would be an identification bracelet for the jail.

 

[Breezyflavor]

I am not in any way defending this evil, evil act.

But as a mental health professional specialising in psychosis, this is simply not correct, and misinformation could potentially harm other vulnerable people.

People in psychosis often appear very confident and organised. When you talk to them there are usually signs (disorganised speech, for example) but sometimes it's impossible to tell if someone is in a state of psychosis unless you ask about whatever the specific delusion is. The stereotype of psychotics being visibly chaotic and disturbed is sometimes true, but generally only at extremes. Patients who are in a state of acute psychosis can appear extremely focused and to have clarity of purpose, and can come up with and execute complex plans, because all of their focus is 100% single-mindedly set on achieving whatever task they feel compelled to by their delusion. (Talk to anyone who's ever worked in a psychiatric hospital, patients with psychosis are infamous for being "sneaky", and also for appearing to be very lucid and sane, until they say something which reveals that they are not.)

I shared a personal story before of a loved one who became psychotic, her specific delusion was that she was convinced that she was being watched at all times by some shadowy authority. She managed to come up with and carry out a very intelligent and complex plan that involved travelling quite some distance in a way that avoided all CCTV cameras. Purely out of the delusion that this shadow person was watching her in real time, hopping between different CCTV cameras to do so.

Most people who are in psychosis utterly reject the idea that they are in psychosis, because one of the problems with psychosis is that psychotic people feel extremely lucid. The whole point about psychosis is that you're convinced that your specific delusion is 100% real, and that delusion is the most important thing in your life.


But I don't think she is in a state of psychosis, simply because someone in psychosis would tell everyone, "yes I got rid of the demon possessing my little girl's body, isn't that wonderful?" or something similar. She wouldn't have awareness that what she'd done was wrong (which A clearly does, as she stonewalled and refused to cooperate with police), and she wouldn't have enough awareness of being mentally ill to plead insanity.

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[Izzylizzy]

Ashlee Buzzard pleads not guilty to murder of daughter; DA's office won't seek death penalty

The plea and denial of special allegations of discharge of a firearm causing death and murder by lying in wait were entered during Buzzard's arraignment on Friday.

www.ksby.com

Ashlee Buzzard has pleaded not guilty to the October murder of her daughter, Melodee Buzzard, in Utah.

*****
Many of Melodee's family members were in attendance and several pink bows were shared in her memory by people watching the court's Zoom feed.

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In court, the prosecutor announced the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office would not be seeking the death penalty against Buzzard, 40, but would be seeking life in prison without the possibility of parole.

*****
Buzzard waived her right to a preliminary hearing within 10 days, replying, “Yes, your honor,” to the judge when asked if she understood her preliminary hearing now must take place by Feb. 24, 2026.

*****
Judge McGregor also approved a temporary gag order request by the defense that prohibits Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown and his employees from speaking on the case and releasing evidence and documents related to it that are not already public.

That motion is expected to be heard in Lompoc on Jan. 7.

*****
View attachment 633096

@0:50 when hearing the judge say "felony 1st degree murder" AB the cold- hearted woman void of showing any emotions actually had an reaction, she closed her eyes.