JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — “She loved her kids tremendously,” Brenda McGehee said, speaking about her late daughter.
“One of the biggest things I miss right now is she always said ‘I love you,’” Samantha McGehee, Sheppard’s daughter, said. “Leaving the house, talking on the phone and it’s just kind of like less love without her around.”“She either called her daughter or me or someone every day,” Brenda McGehee said. “She hadn’t been heard from in two days.
Sheppard was last seen on June 29, 2023. When her family didn’t hear from her, they began reaching out to her partner, Shannon McCarthy. A Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office arrest report said McCarthy said Sheppard was “sick and still in bed.” McCarthy wouldn’t let anyone inside her property to see Sheppard during that timeframe.“She had been laying there 4 days before they found her,” Brenda McGehee said.
Brenda said she was there when they found Sheppard’s body on McCarthy’s porch. The Medical Examiner’s Office said Sheppard was shot multiple times. McCarthy was arrested and charged with “sending written threats to kill” in July. Her charges were later upgraded to second-degree murder and tampering with evidence.In January of last year, McCarthy was arrested and charged with battery against Sheppard, according to an arrest warrant from the State Attorney’s Office.