JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 24-year-old man has been arrested and charged with killing his 22-year-old girlfriend in the backyard of his home on East 12th Street.
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, Breon Fussell (pictured below) shot and killed Shannon Shavette Woods around 8 p.m. Thursday after the two had an argument.
After shooting Woods, Fussell walked back inside his house where both of his parents were and told them to call 911 because he had shot and killed Woods, police said.
Police said once they had Fussell in custody, he confessed to shooting Woods.
Police said the two had been dating for about a year. They did not live together, and police said there's no record of violence between the two. Woods lived a block away from Fussell.
"Unfortunately, I can't tell you what caused this to happen, what caused it to escalate to a shooting," JSO Asst. Chief Chris Butler. "I understood there was some type of an altercation between the two of them, but I just don't have the details."
Woods' sister, Anjela Turner, told News4Jax that Woods had concerns about Fussell and that he was verbally abusive. Turner said Woods wanted to end the relationship.
"She never said that he like hit her or was actually physically abusive to her," Turner said. "The stuff that she had kind of told me within the last two weeks was more so that he was more verbal."
Turner said Woods (pictured) was a psychology student at FSCJ who loved family and enjoyed life.
"My sister was a very good person," Turner said. "She was bubbly. She was just like a person that was like all smiles."
Turner said she never expected Fussell to hurt her sister.
"He seemed mild-mannered, like he was nervous, not like he was the aggressive type, like the physical type, and she said that he was never really physical," Turner said. "My 3-year-old son, he comes in the house this morning saying, 'Where is my Auntie Shan Shan?' and how can you explain that to a 3-year-old that your auntie is gone?"
As Turner grieves, wishing she could have done more to help her sister, she hopes it will encourage someone else to get the help they need.
"If you have an inkling or anything that was inside your stomach or gut instinct that someone you know is like that, abusive physically, emotionally, mentally," Turner said. "Like all women, you are too precious, too beautiful to go through something like that. You just need to get out. Tell somebody."
Fussell has a criminal history that includes aggravated assault and possession of marijuana.
Fussell's parents said he has been taking medication for mental illness and has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
Fussell was not granted bond. His next court date is Jan. 15.