Adrian, MI – An Adrian man was sentenced Friday to 18 years and 9 months to 50 years in prison after pleading guilty to a second-degree murder charge for killing a 30-year-old Adrian woman.
The body of Jessica Marie Fox was found along the River Raisin just outside of Tecumseh in April of 2021. Michigan State Police arrested 33-year-old Christopher George Maurer in June of 2021.
He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in May of this year. The plea agreement called for a minimum sentence of 18 years and 9 months, which was at the low end of the minimum sentencing guidelines.
Maurer was sentenced Friday by Lenawee County Circuit Judge Anna Marie Anzalone. She credited him with 743 days already served in jail.
Maurer admitted that Fox died while they were having sex. Lenawee County Prosecutor Jacqueline Wyse confirmed with WLEN News that, while pleading guilty, Maurer said that he had rough sex with Fox, which included him choking her at her request. When the act was over, he noticed that Jessica was blue, he panicked and dumped her and her belongings in the river.
An autopsy was conducted by the Lenawee County Medical Examiner back in 2021, which determined that the cause of her death was strangulation.
Maurer apologized to Fox’s family for their loss, saying, “I’m very sorry for the circumstances that have happened here. I made a very poor decision.”
His attorney, Salvatore Molaro Jr. of the Lenawee County Public Defender’s Office, told Judge Anzalone that Maurer has a ‘very minimal’ criminal record with no prior felonies and is a military veteran.
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