Three years after the murder, Hughes’ trial finally got underway with opening statements on Monday, with prosecutors telling the court that Hughes “began inserting himself in the custody battle” and “because the dispute elevated into a situation where custody might not go in John Mello's way, at that point, Zach Hughes made the ultimate decision.”.
That mystery was soon solved when it was discovered that Hughes and Mello, the father of Parcell’s daughter, were good friends – and Hughes had allegedly taken his friend’s side when the former couple was in the middle of a contentious custody battle – something he took too far, prosecutors would later claim.
Within a week of the murder, two men were arrested – John Joey Mello, the father of a 10-year-old girl he shares with Parcell, and Parcell’s fiancé, Bradley Post, the man who made the gruesome discovery.
The 33-year-old South Carolina man is accused of fatally stabbing Christina Parcell at least 31 times inside her Greer home on October 13, 2021, in what investigators describe as a “very violent” killing.
Mello, who had been in the middle of a contentious custody battle with Parcell when she was murdered, was later charged with custodial interference after taking his daughter out of the country in violation of a court order.
