Life in prison for man and woman found guilty of killing informant with meth and fentanyl

A man and woman found guilty at trial of killing a law enforcement informant were each sentenced to life behind bars Wednesday.

Senior U.S. District Judge John Antoon II imposed the sentences at the Ocala federal courthouse.

Holding his cane, a shackled David Chappell Fey, 57, of Belleview, was sitting beside his lawyer, Joseph R. Johnson, a private attorney from Ocoee, when the judge announced his decision.

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Close by was 58-year-old Shari Lynn Gunter, of Ocklawaha. Gunter, who was also shackled, was with her lawyer, Daniel Hernandez of Tampa.

Remembering the victim

The judge ordered that both Fey and Gunter pay $14,262 in restitution for funeral and medical costs.

Before the judge imposed sentence, the victim's mother read aloud a prepared statement for the court.

At the podium, the woman said Fey and Gunter took away her best friend. She said her daughter was a big sister who was kind and loving.

In high school, the woman said, her daughter's best friend was a handicapped girl. The victim took care of her.

In closing, she said she and her family – more than a dozen men, women and a baby sitting behind the prosecutor's table – forgave Fey and Gunter.

Johnson's lawyer told the court that his client declined to make a statement. The lawyer extended his condolences to the victim's family, adding it's a tough day for them.

The government's presentation

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Felicetta told the court that methamphetamine is a dangerous drug. He said Fey had control of people with the aid of meth, and some viewed Fey as the "giver of gifts."

Felicetta said Fey and Gunter were dealers. He described Fey as ruthless. He said Fey tried to recruit someone to kill a witness and even threatened to kill Gunter if she ever turned on him.

The prosecutor said the victim was kicked in the head and her lifeless body was disposed like a piece of trash.

"They're cold-blooded killers," Felicetta said of the defendants.

Felicetta said the victim was full of life, was loved, and she was stolen from her family and children. He recommended that Fey and Gunter each get life in prison, telling the judge they don't need redemption.

"They need punishment," he told the court. Assisting Felicetta was Tyrie Boyer.

The judge sentenced Fey to life behind bars. For Gunter, Hernandez told the court that his client is seen a psychiatrist and is presently taking medication. He said Gunter suffers from emotional and physical abuse from men throughout her life. He said Gunter has health and medical issues. He too expressed his condolences to the victim's family.

The judge sentenced Gunter to life in prison.

How the victim died

Government officials said Fey and Gunter had conspired to murder the victim – identified in court documents only as KB – to stop her from talking with law enforcement officials about the distribution of meth by the couple.

The victim was found dead in her parked vehicle near a cemetery in Oxford in April 2016. It was an apparent drug overdose.

Through the investigation, conducted by local, state and federal officials, it was discovered that the victim's death was intentional and caused with an injection of meth and fentanyl. The victim was 31 and a mother of three children.

Officials said Fey and Gunter distributed meth on multiple occasions between January 2016 and October 2019.

Fey and Gunter remain at the Marion County Jail and it's unknown when they will be transported to prison.

Contact Austin L. Miller at austin.miller@starbanner.com

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Federal judge in Ocala, Florida gives life sentences in murder cases