BEAUFORT COUNTY, S.C. (TCN) —Â A man recently admitted to killing his ex-girlfriend as she was driving her young son to school in what prosecutors described as a “calculated and deeply disturbing act of violence.”
According to a June 25 news release from the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, John Shea pleaded guilty to killing Jillian Angner, as well as the attempted murder of her 6-year-old child, discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle, and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. Shea received the maximum penalty for all offenses and life in prison for murder.
On March 2, 2023, the defendant’s ex-girlfriend, Angner, reportedly left her home to take her son to school. Prosecutors said Shea waited for her and then opened fire on her vehicle, hitting her multiple times and causing a gunshot wound to her neck.
Angner was transported to a hospital, placed on life support, and remained unconscious. She succumbed to her injuries several months later, on Aug. 5, 2023.
According to the solicitor’s office, Shea and Angner broke up in the fall of 2022. Following their breakup, Shea allegedly stalked Angner and broke into her home multiple times.
Prosecutors said, “Shea orchestrated the ambush with the help of a friend, who drove him to the neighborhood under the false pretense of conducting a drug run.” Witnesses reported the gunshots, and surveillance footage reportedly captured a Ford F-150 in the area at the time. The driver cooperated with authorities.
The victim’s child was unharmed during the shooting and was able to crawl out of the vehicle. He reportedly hid in a nearby marsh before providing a statement to investigators.
Officials arrested Shea several days after the attack in his apartment complex parking lot while he was packing suitcases into his vehicle to flee. The solicitor’s office said investigators found multiple “disturbing items” in his home, including “defaced photographs of Angner, tarot cards, a voodoo doll, a makeshift shrine, and literature related to Satanism and the occult.”
Officials also reportedly discovered a letter from Shea’s mother “expressing concern about his violent behavior and substance abuse, citing a prior incident in which Shea allegedly threatened to kill his brother.”
The solicitor’s office alleges that Shea created a list dating back to 2008 of women he had been romantically involved with and provided details of each encounter. Investigators uncovered text messages and evidence revealing that he had “carefully planned the attack, attempting to establish an alibi by leaving his vehicle at a local bar.”
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