BEAUFORT, S.C. (June 25, 2025) – A Bluffton man who ambushed his ex-girlfriend as she drove her 6-year-old son to school is headed to prison will spend the rest of his life in prison despite halting his jury trial Wednesday to plead guilty to her killing.
John Patrick Shea, who will turn 30 Saturday, admitted to the 2023 murder of Jillian Angner. He also pleaded as indicted to the attempted murder of Angner’s young son, discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle, and possession of a weapon during commission of a violent crime.
He was sentenced to the maximum penalty for all offenses and received life in prison for murder.
“This was a calculated and deeply disturbing act of violence,” said Hunter Swanson of the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, who prosecuted the case. “Today’s conviction cannot restore Jillian’s life, but it brings some measure of justice to her friends, family and young son. I hope this helps them heal.”
John Patrick Shea
The attack occurred on the morning of March 2, 2023, shortly after Angner left her residence in an unincorporated area of Bluffton to take her son to school. Shea, who had previously dated Angner, lay in wait nearby and opened fire on Angner’s Jeep Cherokee, striking her multiple times. The wounds included a gunshot to her neck.
Angner was placed on life support but never regained consciousness. She died Aug. 5, 2023.
The two had ended their relationship in the fall of 2022. In the months following their breakup, Angner reported multiple instances of stalking and break-ins at her home, allegedly committed by Shea.
Authorities 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. Neighbors reported hearing gunshots, and Ring camera footage captured a Ford F-150 in the area around the time of the shooting. The truck’s driver cooperated with law enforcement, providing a detailed account of events and reenacting the scene for investigators.
Angner’s young son was not physically harmed during the shooting. He escaped by crawling out of the back of the vehicle and hiding in a nearby marsh. He later gave a forensic interview that corroborated key details of the investigation, which was led by the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
John Patrick Shea fired several shots into the Jeep Grand Cherokee of his ex-girfriend, Jillian Angner, who died several months later of the injuries sustained in the ambush attack. She was driving her son to school on the morning of March 2, 2023. Shea pleaded guilty to her murder, the attempted murder of Angner’s son and two weapons-related charges.
Shea was apprehended several days after the shooting in the parking lot of his apartment complex while loading suitcases into his car to flee. A search of his residence uncovered several disturbing items, including defaced photographs of Angner, tarot cards, a voodoo doll, a makeshift shrine, and literature related to satanism and the occult. Investigators also found 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.
Additional evidence showed that Shea had compiled a list of women he had romantic or physical contact with, dating to 2008, along with notes about each encounter. Text messages and actions taken the night before the shooting revealed he had carefully planned the attack, attempting to establish an alibi by leaving his vehicle at a local bar.
Swanson called seven witnesses during the first day of the trial in Beaufort County General Sessions Court on Tuesday. He entered his guilty plea Wednesday morning, before testimony could resume.
Circuit Court Judge S. Bryan Doby handed down the sentence.
Swanson leads the Solicitor’s Office Special Victims Unit, which prosecutes cases involving domestic violence, sexual assault and other crimes against vulnerable populations. She also is a member of Career Criminal Unit, which prosecutes the circuit’s most violent and habitual offenders. That team has earned convictions against 518 of 570 defendants it has prosecuted since its inception in 2009.
