PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. (WJHL) — A Tri-Cities woman accused of donning a clown costume while fatally shooting her husband’s then-wife in the face will not appear before a jury in June as scheduled.
Sheila Keen-Warren, the former co-owner of the Purple Cow in Kingsport, faces a first-degree murder charge for the 1990 shooting death of Marlene Warren in Florida. Twelve years later, in 2002, Keen-Warren married the homicide victim’s husband, Michael Warren, and lived with him in Abingdon until her arrest in 2017.
Judge Scott Suskauer had set a jury trial date for the case on June 3, 2022; however, court documents dated May 17 state that the court date is canceled. A separate court document listed another date — June 14 — for a status check, and a future trial date has not yet been determined.
The cancellation marks the second date change for the jury trial, which was originally set to occur on Sept. 8, 2021.
Prosecutors accuse Keen-Warren of driving to a Wellington, Florida residence in May of 1990 and knocking on the front door while dressed as a clown holding balloons and flowers. When Marlene Warren answered, investigators accuse the clown of handing her a bouquet before shooting her in the face at close range. She died two days later.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office reported that Marlene had been in her Wellington home with her 22-year-old son and several of his friends when she was shot on her front porch. The witnesses told authorities that the clown stalked back to the car and drove away.
Keen-Warren has maintained her innocence in the case.
