{"id":8574,"date":"2026-05-13T14:07:40","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wdepradio.com\/?p=8574"},"modified":"2026-05-13T14:07:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:07:41","slug":"man-sentenced-to-more-than-34-years-for-fatally-shooting-ex-girlfriend-in-face","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wdepradio.com\/?p=8574","title":{"rendered":"Man sentenced to more than 34 years for fatally shooting ex-girlfriend in face"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/kstp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Craig-Alan-Hameister-mugshot.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kstp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Craig-Alan-Hameister-mugshot.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/kstp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Craig-Alan-Hameister-mugshot-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/kstp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Craig-Alan-Hameister-mugshot-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/kstp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Craig-Alan-Hameister-mugshot-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/kstp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Craig-Alan-Hameister-mugshot-50x28.jpg 50w\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Courtesy: Wabasha County Sheriff&#8217;s Office<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>A Rochester man will serve more than three decades in prison after he pleaded guilty to shooting his ex-girlfriend in the face at close range and leaving her to die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Craig Hameister, 45, was sentenced to 34.5 years in prison (415 months) on Monday for the killing of Melissa Hunt last June at a Kellogg, Minnesota, boat launch. Hameister had pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder on March 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to charging documents, after Hameister shot Hunt, she drove herself to a nearby home and named her assailant as \u201cCraig.\u201d She had difficulty speaking due to extensive injuries that took out several teeth and part of her jaw. Hunt was taken to a hospital but did not survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At sentencing, Hameister admitted to shooting Hunt in the face with a handgun with the intent to kill her, according to the Minnesota Attorney General\u2019s Office, which was asked to prosecuted the case in Wabasha County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMelissa should still be with us today,\u201d&nbsp;Ellison said in a statement.&nbsp;\u201cThose who were lucky enough to have known Melissa say she was kind, caring, and loved her daughters dearly. Her loss is such a tragedy, and I\u2019m keeping her family in my prayers. I\u2019m grateful to everyone who helped bring Melissa\u2019s killer to justice, including the Wabasha County Sheriff\u2019s Office and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. As long as I am attorney general, I will do everything I can to ensure those who harm their fellow Minnesotans are held to account.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse, several resources are available to offer help. For immediate help, contact:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehotline.org\/get-help\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>National Domestic Violence Hotline<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0at 800-799-7233.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dayoneservices.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Minnesota Day One<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0at 866-223-1111.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wadvocates.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Women\u2019s Advocates<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0crisis line at 651-227-8284.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>More than 12 million people just in the U.S. are affected by domestic violence every year, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The organizations listed above can help connect victims to resources like safe shelter, advocacy, legal help and support groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The National Domestic Violence Hotline also offers tips for identifying abuse and supporting victims of abuse.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehotline.org\/support-others\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>CLICK HERE<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;to see those.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other organizations that can help include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vfmn.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Violence Free Minnesota<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0at 651-646-6177 or 800-289-6177.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.standpointmn.org\/\"><strong><em>STANDPOINT<\/em><\/strong><\/a>(formerly the\u00a0<em>Battered Women\u2019s Legal Advocacy Project) at 612-343-9842.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/mshoop.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mending the Sacred Hoop<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0at 888-305-1650.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/mncasa.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0at 612-209-9993.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Minnesota also has a list of many other resources for victims of crimes that can be found&nbsp;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dps.mn.gov\/divisions\/ojp\/help-for-crime-victims\/Pages\/resource-list-victims.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">HERE<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Courtesy of <a href=\"https:\/\/kstp.com\/\">KSTP<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Courtesy: Wabasha County Sheriff&#8217;s Office A Rochester man will serve more than three decades in prison after he<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[182,170],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Man sentenced to more than 34 years for fatally shooting ex-girlfriend in face - WDEP Radio<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wdepradio.com\/?p=8574\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Man sentenced to more than 34 years for fatally shooting ex-girlfriend 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