Judge approves permanent gag order in Melodee Buzzard murder case

January 21, 2026

Melodee Buzzard

By KAREN VELIE

A Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge on Wednesday put a gag order on law enforcement and prosecutors during the murder trial of Ashlee Buzzard, a woman charged with murdering her 9-year-old daughter Melodee Buzzard.

Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Stephen Dunkle also approved a motion by the defense to unseal search warrants and affidavits.

Ashlee Buzzard is charged with first degree murder with special enhancements of lying in wait and discharge of a firearm causing death. She pleaded not guilty last month.

On Oct. 7: Ashlee Buzzard rented a vehicle and began a multi-state road trip. Surveillance images showed her and Melodee at the rental office wearing wigs, apparently to conceal their identities.

On Oct, 10: Ashlee Buzzard returned home to Lompoc, without her daughter.

For more than a month, Melodee was missing while her mother was unwilling to discuss what happened to her child. Investigators now believe Ashlee Buzzard shot her daughter in the head multiple times before leaving the child’s body in a remote area in Utah.

On Dec. 23: Deputies arrested Ashlee Buzzard for the murder of daughter, Melodee. Deputies booked Ashlee Buzzard in the Santa Barbara Main Jail where she is being held without bail.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 11.