Woman pleads guilty to killing girlfriend after body was found in ‘advanced state of decomposition’

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (TCN) — A woman will spend three decades behind bars for fatally shooting her girlfriend and hiding the victim’s body under a tarp.

The Florida State Attorney’s Office for the Fourth Judicial Circuit announced July 31 that Shannon McCarthy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, tampering with evidence, and written threats to kill or do bodily injury in connection with the death of Heather Sheppard. A judge subsequently sentenced McCarthy to 30 years in Florida State Prison.

According to prosecutors, on July 3, 2023, Sheppard’s daughter reported her mother missing. She reportedly last saw Sheppard at a home on Colonial Avenue where she stayed with her girlfriend, McCarthy. The daughter and another individual allegedly attempted to check on Sheppard, but the defendant refused to let them inside and said Sheppard had left.

The following day, McCarthy purportedly told Sheppard’s daughter and a friend they could retrieve the victim’s personal items, but when they arrived, she wouldn’t let them on the porch. Prosecutors said the daughter and her friend “reported smelling a foul odor.”

On July 5, 2023, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office responded to the Colonial Avenue residence, and McCarthy threw a tarp over items on the front porch. Authorities reportedly removed the tarp and discovered Sheppard’s body “in an advanced state of decomposition.”

According to the state attorney’s office, neighbors said they heard gunshots on June 28 and June 30. Officials removed firearms from the house as evidence and took McCarthy in for questioning. Prosecutors said McCarthy “admitted to sending Sheppard texts threatening to kill her.”

An autopsy later revealed the victim had been shot multiple times, and investigators determined the projectiles matched McCarthy’s firearm.

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