A guy from South Carolina will spend the rest of his life in prison after pleading guilty to killing his ex-girlfriend in front of her young son.
John Patrick Shea, 29, wrote an apology letter to the family of Jillian Angner, 25, who he shot in March 2023 while she was taking her 6-year-old son to school. He did this in court on Wednesday. Shea begged for a life term after pleading guilty to all four felony charges against him, including the murder of Angner and the attempted murder of her son. He had dated Angner before and started stalking her after they broke up.
The 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office in South Carolina said in a news release that Shea admitted to killing Angner right before his defence began. Prosecutors said that Shea admitted to killing Angner on purpose and also pleaded guilty to “attempting to murder Angner’s young son, firing a gun into a moving vehicle, and having a weapon while committing a violent crime.”
The relationship between Shea and Angner stopped in October 2022, according to the prosecutors. Angner said that Shea was responsible for “multiple instances of stalking and break-ins at her home” in the months that followed.
Shea asked a friend to drive him to Angner’s house in the morning of March 2, 2023. His friend thought the ride was for a “drug run” and didn’t know that he was taking Shea to Angner’s house.
Shea surprised Angner as she was getting her Jeep Cherokee ready to take her 6-year-old son to school. He then opened fire on her and her son while they were inside. He had been ready for them to come out. Angner was hit several times, and one of the wounds was very bad. officials say that her son “escaped by crawling out of the back of the car and hiding in a nearby marsh.”
Angner was taken to the hospital and given artificial life support. She lost awareness and died on August 5, 2023.
A few days later, Shea was caught as he was loading his car with bags and getting ready to run away. While he was being held, his passport and birth certificate were with him.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office searched his apartment and found “defaced photographs of Angner, tarot cards, a voodoo doll, a makeshift shrine, and literature related to satanism and the occult.” In a letter, Shea’s mother talked about how worried she was about her son’s behaviour and how his brother’s life was in danger.
The police also found proof that Shea may have been following other women he had dated since 2008, “along with notes about each encounter.” Shea also tried to make an excuse by leaving his car at a bar, according to the police.
The trial for Shea’s murder began on Tuesday, with seven witnesses taking the stand. Before the trial could start again on Wednesday, the defendant admitted to his crimes and pleaded guilty “without recommendation or negotiation from the state,” according to reports from The Island Packet, a local news source.
Shea told the judge, “I can’t take this heartache any longer.” From the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry for what happened here. He told them that he was “mentally sick and mentally unstable” when the crime happened.
Afterward, he begged Circuit Court Judge S. Bryan Doby, “Please, please spare my life, your honour.” Please don’t kill me. Please don’t kill me, please. I messed up.”
Shea got what he wanted in the end; he was given life in jail for killing Angner and the maximum sentences for the other three charges.
