Sheila Mills was found dead inside her Northwoods home after her daughter asked police to check on her.

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — A Missouri man was convicted of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the killing of his former girlfriend, who was found dead inside her home one day after she ended their troubled relationship by text message, according to prosecutors and court records.

Darryl Greenlee, 61, was convicted after a weeklong trial in the August 2025 death of Sheila Mills, 64, in Northwoods, a community in St. Louis County. The verdict resolved the central murder case against Greenlee nearly a year after Mills’ daughter, unable to reach her mother, asked authorities to conduct a welfare check. Jurors found Greenlee guilty of first-degree murder and armed criminal action but acquitted him of first-degree robbery and first-degree burglary. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 23, 2026, and the murder conviction could result in life in prison without parole.

The case began with a breakup and, according to charging documents, escalated within hours. Investigators said Mills sent Greenlee a text message on Aug. 15, 2025, ending what authorities described as a turbulent or troubled relationship. At about 6:30 the next morning, Greenlee went to her residence and tried to get her attention by knocking on a window, according to the criminal complaint. The document said Mills eventually answered the door and Greenlee forced his way into the house. Those allegations became part of the prosecution’s account of the events that preceded her death.

Hours later, Mills’ daughter became concerned when she could not contact her mother and requested a welfare check. Northwoods police responded to the 4400 block of Begg Boulevard at about 12:50 p.m. on Aug. 16. Officers entered the residence and found Mills dead on the floor. Charging documents said her hands had been bound behind her back and that she had been fatally shot in the head. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities treated the home as a homicide scene and began examining who had entered and left during the hours between the breakup and the discovery of her body.

The investigation focused on Greenlee and another man, Kevin Shelton. Prosecutors alleged the two men arrived at Mills’ home during the morning and that surveillance evidence helped investigators reconstruct their movements. The criminal complaint said Greenlee was seen going to the residence and later leaving. Authorities alleged Shelton was also connected to the home and was seen wearing a mask and gloves. Prosecutors charged Shelton separately in connection with Mills’ death. The accusations against Shelton remain allegations unless proved in court, and Greenlee’s conviction does not establish Shelton’s guilt on his separate charges.

Investigators also traced activity involving Mills’ property after she was killed. Authorities accused Shelton of leaving the residence with Mills’ vehicle and using her debit card to withdraw $140. Charging documents and earlier police reporting said the investigation tied the two men to a sequence that included the car leaving and later returning to the residence. Shelton was charged with offenses including first-degree murder, robbery, burglary and armed criminal action, along with a charge related to the alleged use of Mills’ debit card. His case was set to proceed separately from Greenlee’s.

Another part of the prosecution’s evidence came from a trash bag discarded after the killing. Investigators said Greenlee was seen throwing a bag into a nearby garbage container after leaving Mills’ home. Police recovered the bag and examined its contents. According to the complaint, it contained a tequila bottle that investigators said carried Greenlee’s DNA. Authorities used that physical evidence together with surveillance and the timeline of activity around Mills’ residence to build the case. The complaint also stated that investigators did not see other people entering or leaving the home during the relevant period captured by surveillance.

The jury’s verdict, however, did not accept every criminal charge prosecutors had brought against Greenlee. Although jurors convicted him of first-degree murder and armed criminal action, they acquitted him of first-degree robbery and first-degree burglary. That distinction is significant to the final record of the case. Earlier reports about the investigation listed Greenlee as facing murder, robbery, burglary and multiple armed criminal action counts. After hearing the evidence at trial, the jury returned a narrower set of guilty verdicts. The first-degree murder conviction nevertheless carries the most severe potential consequence Greenlee faces when he returns to court for sentencing.

The timing of Mills’ breakup was a central fact in prosecutors’ account. Charging documents said she ended the relationship by text on Aug. 15 and described the relationship as turbulent. By the following morning, investigators said, Greenlee was outside her home trying to get her attention. Prosecutors said he forced his way inside after she opened the door. Mills was found dead that afternoon. The sequence gave investigators a relatively short period to examine through surveillance footage, physical evidence, financial activity and the movements attributed to Greenlee and Shelton. Prosecutors later presented their case against Greenlee to a jury, which returned its murder verdict after the weeklong trial.

The verdict also moves the two defendants into different stages of the criminal process. Greenlee has now been convicted and awaits punishment, while the allegations against Shelton have not been resolved by a verdict in the reporting reviewed for this story. Shelton had been scheduled for trial Sept. 28 on charges connected to Mills’ death and the alleged taking of her property. Prosecutors have alleged that he participated in events surrounding the killing and later used Mills’ debit card. Because his case is separate, those allegations must be decided on the evidence presented in his proceeding rather than Greenlee’s conviction.

For Mills’ family, the criminal case began not with a police investigation already underway but with concern that she could not be reached. Her daughter’s request for a welfare check led officers to the Northwoods residence, where they discovered Mills and opened the homicide investigation. Police later arrested and charged Greenlee and Shelton, and Greenlee’s case ultimately went before a jury. The progression from the welfare check to the murder verdict took about a year, with investigators relying on the relationship timeline, surveillance, property allegedly taken from the home and physical evidence recovered nearby.

Currently, Greenlee is scheduled to return to court Oct. 23 for sentencing on the first-degree murder and armed criminal action convictions. The available reporting did not establish that a sentence had been imposed as of the latest verified update. Shelton’s separate case remained pending in the sources reviewed. Any determination of his guilt or innocence will depend on the outcome of that proceeding.

Author note: Last updated Sept. 29, 2026.