'I killed her myself': Woman posted Snapchat video bragging about smothering stepmom, had 'Kill Jodie' on her to-do list

Samantha Bevans (YouTube/KCRG screenshot); Inset: Tacoa Talley (Benton County Jail) and Jodie Bevan (Brosh Chapel).

A 35-year-old woman in Iowa will spend the remainder of her days behind bars for killing her stepmother, suffocating the 58-year-old woman with a pillow and then posting a video to Snapchat proudly confessing to the crime. A jury in Benton County on Monday found Samantha Bevans guilty of first-degree murder in the 2022 slaying of Jodie Bevans, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.

Under Iowa state law, non-juvenile defendants convicted of first-degree murder must serve a mandatory sentence of life without the possibility of parole.

In their first day of deliberation since closing arguments, jurors unanimously found Samantha Bevans guilty, despite her contentions that her boyfriend, Tacoa Talley, was the one who smothered Jodie Bevans inside of the victim’s home on June 14, 2022.

Talley last year was also found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. Additionally, he was ordered to pay restitution of $150,000.

The most damaging piece of evidence to be presented to the jury was a video filmed by Samantha Bevans and posted to her Snapchat account in which she triumphantly declared that she was the one who killed her stepmother.

A copy of the video was obtained and posted by Waterloo, Iowa NBC affiliate KWWL. The brief video was filmed by Samantha Bevans and features her in the foreground with Talley standing a few behind her. It was posted to her Snapchat account at 9:14 a.m. on July 16, 2022.

“I killed her. I killed her myself” Samantha Bevans says in a matter-of-fact tone.

“And I knew this was going to happen, so good job,” Talley responds.

“We killed her,” Samantha Bevans adds.

“Yeah we did,” Talley says.

Samantha Bevans then appears happy as she looks directly into the camera and gives a wide, open-mouthed smile before holding up her middle finger to the camera.

Prosecutors reportedly said Samantha Bevans planned to kill Jodie Bevans as “pay back” for kicking her out of the house.

According to a report from The Gazette, Samantha Bevans took the stand in her own defense last week and told jurors she was mad at Talley — whom she claimed was the real killer — and that she only made the video in an attempt to get some kind of reaction from him. She further claimed that at the time of the filming, she was high on methamphetamine and was unable to tell what was going on.

Samantha Bevans further testified that she and Talley initially went to her stepmom’s home to rob her safe, believing there was cash inside, but Talley attacked Jodie Bevans and began strangling her in the bed. Samantha Bevans claimed she placed a pillow over her stepmom’s face but couldn’t go through with pressing it down and smothering the woman.

However, investigators testified that in a taped interview, Samantha Bevans demonstrated how she put the pillow over Jodie Bevans’ face, then stood up and pressed down on it with her foot, making a “grinding” motion.

Prosecutors also noted that Samantha Bevans had penned a to-do list and one of the listed items was “Kill Jodie,” per Cedar Rapids, Iowa ABC affiliate KCRG.

Samantha Bevans is currently scheduled to appear before Sixth Judicial District Judge Chad Kepros to be formally sentenced on June 14.

The post ‘I killed her myself’: Woman posted Snapchat video bragging about smothering stepmom, had ‘Kill Jodie’ on her to-do list first appeared on Law & Crime .