Sep 19, 2023 By Mike Jones newsroom@heraldstandard.Com 5 min read

The Greene County woman who shot her boyfriend’s estranged wife during a heated argument over their mutual love interest while at a Chartiers Township mobile park last year was sentenced to serve time in a state prison.

Michaela Marie Hildreth, 28, of Nineveh, was sentenced Monday by Judge Valarie Costanzo to serve 7 to 14 years in prison for shooting Amy Mruk during the fight in the 200 block of Moon Road on July 20, 2022, in which one of the stray bullets struck a nearby house where a family of three was sleeping.

Following a four-day trial in June, a Washington County jury convicted Hildreth on two felony counts of aggravated assault and three misdemeanor charges of reckless endangerment and one count of simple assault, although she was acquitted on the most serious charge of attempted homicide.

Mruk, who nearly died from the shooting, attended the sentencing hearing for Hildreth in Washington County Court of Common Pleas, but she did not give a victim impact statement. Her daughter, Haley, spoke on her behalf through a written statement in which she described the terror her family experienced from “the unknown feeling if my mom would make it that night” after being shot in the chest with the bullet puncturing her lung.

“A selfish decision could easily have ruined our lives,” Haley Mruk said in her written statement. “Although not unscarred, I’m grateful she’s still here.”

Hildreth and Mruk had been arguing the night of the shooting while driving around the area with their mutual love interest, John Mruk Jr., searching for a missing rifle. While at the mobile home park in Chartiers, Mruk got out of the vehicle and then came up to the driver’s side door where Hildreth was sitting, which led to the argument becoming physical. However, the prosecution showed during the trial that Mruk was unarmed and stepping away from the vehicle with her hands up when Hildreth fired a handgun at her.

“From the moment she pulled the trigger, it was all about her,” Deputy District Attorney Cassidy Gerstner said about Hildreth’s actions immediately after the shooting. “She sat on the curb talking on the phone with her attorney preparing her defense while Amy Mruk was bleeding out.”

Mruk spent 11 days at a Pittsburgh hospital undergoing treatment while on a ventilator after suffering broken ribs, an arm injury and damage to one lung from the gunshot wound. Gerstner said that Hildreth showed “no remorse” following her conviction, and she noted that the shooting endangered a family living in a home that was struck by the gunfire, although no one else was hurt.

Five people spoke on Hildreth’s behalf, discussing her tenure as the Jacktown Fair queen in 2013, the passion she had for raising cattle while in 4-H club and various other successes in life before the shooting. Hildreth, who was shackled and wearing orange jail clothing, also spoke and apologized for the incident, but never addressed her comments directly to Mruk.

“I am so sorry for all of the events that transpired that night,” she said, adding that she knew it was a “bad situation” to be in the same vehicle with her boyfriend and his estranged wife. “I’m just sorry for everything that happened.”

Her defense attorney, Joseph Pometto, asked Costanzo for leniency after hearing testimony from friends and family.

“Justice can be served to a victim and mercy can be shown to the defendant,” Pometto said.

Fellow defense attorney Joseph Hudak, who was brought in as co-counsel following the conviction in order to mount an appeal, said the volatile situation between the romantic rivals led to the shooting.

“It was like dropping a match in a puddle of gasoline,” Hudak said.

However, he also brought up a photograph posted on social media apparently after the shooting showing Mruk wearing a customized shirt with faux bullet holes plastered across it and the wording “Holiest (expletive) Around” written across the front.

“Not for one second do I want to disparage this poor lady,” Hudak said. “This (photo) has shown that she has moved on from this.”

Gerstner objected to the photo’s introduction into the hearing, which Costanzo sustained when the defense could not produce any foundational evidence or witnesses to testify about its authenticity or meaning. It’s not known when the photograph was taken.

Costanzo did not appear to be pleased with the defense’s attempt to bring the photograph into evidence, and she seemed to be unimpressed by Hildreth’s apology.

“I’m not sure what she’s remorseful for, although she remorseful for something that day,” Costanzo said.

The judge said the 7- to- 14-year sentence she imposed was within the “standard range” that weighed statements from both sides. In addition to the state prison sentence, Costanzo ordered Hildreth to pay $4,425 to Mruk for medical expenses.

Hildreth was jailed for about three weeks following the shooting, but was released on $750,000 bond while awaiting trial. She’s been held at the Washington County jail since June 8 when she was convicted, and Costanzo gave her credit for time served.