Tiffany Powell in Brown County court, February 6, 2023. PC: Fox 11 Online
WAUPACA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Besides being sentenced to 15 years in prison for her role in the events which led to the murder of her son – in a dispute about stolen exotic pets – Tiffany Powell must have meetings on the anniversary of her son’s death to discuss the incident and her role in it.
The charges stem from the October 2020 shooting death of Powell’s son, Ryelee Manete-Powell. Powell, 37, was previously convicted of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, and guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. William Zelenski, 46, allegedly shot and killed Manente-Powell, 18, who Zelenski believed had stolen his multiple exotic animals, worth more than $27,000, a few days before.
Judge Vicki Clussman also placed Powell on extended supervision for eight years at Monday’s sentencing.
Before the sentence was issued, Powell apologized, saying she will have to live the rest her life knowing she can’t bring him back.
“I wish I could go back and change the irrational decisions and choices that were made. Today, I sit here, accepting my accountability in the part of what happened to my son. I wish I could see him here and ask for forgiveness, but to ask for that would mean I would have to forgive myself,” she said.
Judge Clussman said she couldn’t understand Powell’s actions, noting there were several events which led up to her son’s murder.
“There’s all kinds of thought that takes place. At no point did you say: ‘Don’t hold that gun on my son.’; ‘Don’t give me this gun, I’m a convicted felon, I can’t hold on to a gun.’; ‘Don’t point that at my son.’ It seems to me you had a lot of thought. And maybe those thoughts were about Mr. Zelenski. Maybe you were thinking about yourself. Maybe you were thinking about those animals, or the weapons that were taken. You were thinking about a lot. The only thing you weren’t thinking about was Ryelee. Because if you have been thinking about Ryelee, you would have been screaming at Mr. Zelenski to take the gun away from your son, to put it down. So you do think. You just maybe weren’t thinking the way you should have been. You weren’t thinking about Ryelee,” the judge said.
Judge Clussman also noted Powell’s lack of remorse and emotion.
No trial date has been set for Zelenski. He returns to court Feb. 22 for a status conference on the charge of first-degree intentional homicide.
Zelenski and Powell allegedly confronted Manente-Powell on a Waupaca street.
According to the criminal complaint, a doorbell camera captured most of the altercation. At one point, the video shows Zelenski handing the gun to Powell, who pointed the gun at Manente-Powell. Eventually she gave the gun back to Zelenski, but the complaint doesn’t say anything about the doorbell video showing actual shots being fired.
After the shooting, Zelenski called 911, saying Manente-Powell attacked him, and then Zelenski shot him.
According to the criminal complaint, the two stole multiple animals, including a crocodile, bearded lizard, snakes, and other items.
No trial date has been set for Zelenski. He returns to court Feb. 22 for a status conference. Zelenski has been in jail for more than two years awaiting trial, unable to post the $1 million cash bond.
Ashton Tody was convicted of assisting Manente-Powell in the thefts. He will be sentenced Feb. 28.
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