Mom of 5 Allegedly Beaten to Death by Newlywed Husband on Thanksgiving After an Argument | “He Had Messed Up”

Trigger Warning: This article mentions intimate partner violence which some readers may find distressing.

A woman from West Virginia, identified as Marissa Mann-Bennett, also known as Marissa Dawson, was found dead a day after Thanksgiving. According to a criminal complaint shared by WV Metro News and reviewed by PEOPLE, Marissa’s husband, Zachary Dawson, 35 was arrested for her death after police say he admitted to killing his wife.

The Alderson police arrived on the scene after receiving a call for an unresponsive woman on Friday at 9 a.m. The police discovered Marissa with “major facial trauma” and she was declared dead.

According to the registered complaint, "it appeared the subject was thrown through the residence and striking what appeared to be her head on several items in the residence." The police authorities searched the home of the victim and recovered bloody clothes and suspected that Marissa’s clothes had been changed. They also noticed that Marissa’s 2016 Infinity car was missing and that prompted the officials to conduct a citywide search to locate the vehicle. The authorities quickly nabbed Marissa’s husband Zachary driving the car and spotted blood on his clothes, hands, necklace, and even inside the vehicle.

During an interview, Zachary admitted to “striking" her during an argument the night before and early morning. "Subject stated after striking his wife, he blacked out and when he came to, he knew that he had messed up. The subject admitted he changed her clothes to have clean clothes on her,” the police stated in the complaint. According to West Virginia’s Metro News, Marissa has left behind her 5 children who were not present at home during the altercation between Marissa and her husband. The mother of 5 had recently married Zachary on October 24, 2022.

"It's my understanding that there was a very consequential amount of blood at the scene as well as articles of clothing that were gathered by the investigators," Greenbrier County Prosecutor Patrick told the outlet about the ongoing investigations. "All of those facts have been or will be gathered by the investigators and supplied to me through briefings as well as through a complete written report of the investigation," he added.

Friends and family of Marissa have poured their condolences on several Facebook posts where she can be seen with her kids and friends mostly. She worked as a housekeeping attendant at the Greenbrier Resort. 

 
According to online jail records, Zachary Hess Dawson is being held in Southern Regional Jail without a bond and it remains unclear whether or not he retained an attorney to speak on his behalf.

In case anyone out there is experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org.

References:

https://people.com/crime/w-va-mom-allegedly-beaten-to-death-by-husband-after-fighting/

https://wvmetronews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/DAWSON-criminal-complaint.pdf

https://wvmetronews.com/2022/11/28/alderson-man-charged-in-beating-death-of-wife/

https://apps.wv.gov/OIS/OffenderSearch/RJA/Offender/Search

Cover Image Source: Marissa Dawson / Facebook