Covelo man to be sentenced for fatally shooting his child’s mother

A Covelo man will be sentenced this month for fatally shooting the 35-year-old mother of his child while she was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher March 20.

Johnathan Draughan, 43, pleaded guilty June 21 to killing Brandy Kay Mathieson at her Covelo home, according to Mendocino County Superior Court records.

He was convicted of one count of second-degree murder and will be sentenced July 19 by Mendocino County Judge Patrick Pekin.

Draughan’s attorney with the Mendocino County Public Defender’s Office could not be immediately reached for comment.

According to court records, Mathieson filed for a domestic violence restraining order against Draughan on Jan. 30 in Mendocino County Superior Court.

The filing references years of abuse, and court records show Draughan was arrested in November on suspicion of using tear gas on Mathieson. That case was dismissed due to insufficient evidence, records show.

In the Jan. 30 application, Mathieson wrote Draughan threatened Jan. 25 to attack her and their son with a hatchet and hammer if they left him, according to the filing.

He slammed a phone in her face, pressed the hatchet against her neck and egged Mathieson to dial 911, saying he wouldn’t leave a mark and she’d be the one arrested.

“He would not let me past him but was finally able to get out with my son and keys,” Mathieson wrote in the filing. “He began slashing my tires to prevent us from leaving. I still got in the car with my son and locked us in.

The court issued a five-year protection order about a month later but Draughan had not been served as of Feb. 28.

The March shooting happened in front of the 2-year-old at Mathieson’s Covelo home in the 25600 block of Mendocino Pass Road, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office reported in March.

Mathieson called dispatchers about 5:30 a.m. March 20 and reported Draughan was armed with a shotgun and had assaulted her at the home.

The dispatcher heard multiple gunshots and Mathieson stopped talking, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Draughan picked up the phone and told the dispatcher he shot Mathieson and would wait for authorities.

Sheriff’s deputies arrived and Mathieson was pronounced dead at the scene.

They recovered a shotgun at the home and took the child to an area hospital for an evaluation. His current status wasn’t available.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi