Left inset: Shoshanha Jones (Louisville Metro Department of Corrections). Right inset: Mayra Rodriguez Munoz (GoFundMe). Background: The McDonald’s in Louisville, Ky., where Shoshanha Jones allegedly murdered Mayra Rodriguez Munoz after a dispute over a car door hitting Jones’ vehicle (WDRB/YouTube).
A gun-toting Kentucky woman who was angry at a teen for hitting her vehicle with a car door while she was at a McDonald’s shot a U.S. Navy veteran who tried to intervene, according to police. Relatives of the victim say she was “tragically killed while trying to save a life” — calling it “her final act of courage.”
Shoshanha Jones, 39, is charged with murder, robbery and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon in connection with the shooting death of 28-year-old Mayra Rodriguez Munoz, who was enlisted in the Navy from 2017 to 2022, when she was honorably discharged, according to her obituary.
Court documents obtained by local Fox affiliate WDRB accuse Jones of opening fire on Munoz on New Year’s Eve after she intervened during a dispute Jones was having with another woman over their teenage child hitting Jones’ vehicle with a car door.
Munoz’s obituary says she was “tragically taken from this world in Louisville while acting with extraordinary bravery to protect the life of someone she deeply loved — an act she would have carried out for anyone in need.” It’s unclear what Munoz’s relationship is with the mother and teen.
“In a final act of heroism, Mayra was tragically killed while trying to save a life,” a GoFundMe description says. Munoz’s brother wrote on Facebook that she was “conducting a heroic act while protecting someone else’s life.”
The brother said, “My baby sister … made an oath to protect and defend the nation from any threat foreign and domestic. She definitely understood and demonstrated that with her incredible courage.”
Louisville Metro Police said in a press release that the shooting unfolded on Dec. 31, 2025, around 10:40 p.m. at a McDonald’s in the 400 block of East Market Street. Jones allegedly shot Munoz once and then fled from the fast-food joint. She later turned herself over to an attorney who is representing her, with police taking her into custody without incident at the lawyer’s office.
“There’s more to this story than the news put out,” said defense attorney Keith Kamenish during Jones’ bond hearing on Wednesday, which was covered by WDRB.
Kamenish claimed that reports saying a child was involved are misleading and said the minor is “going to be hitting 18 pretty soon.” Their age has not been reported by police, nor has the age of the mother.
“They were approaching her, all three of them at the time of this shooting,” Kamenish alleged. “It’s one shot, and she was there for a lawful purpose, eating her food, when these people came up and the incident began.”
Kamenish added, “There is a lot to this story,” while describing Jones as a mother herself who has “multiple children” and “surrendered without incident.”
Police say Jones shot Munoz with a handgun once in the chest. The mother was allegedly attempting to film Jones with her cellphone, prompting Jones to point her gun at her and take the phone by force, WDRB reports.
Jones’s bond was set at $500,000 and she was ordered to stay away from McDonald’s restaurants and witnesses’ families. She is due back in court on Jan. 26.
“Though her life was taken far too soon, Mayra’s legacy of service, love and bravery will endure for generations to come,” Munoz’s obituary says. “Her final act of courage reflected the values she upheld throughout her life and service.”
