In the winter of 2017, the life of 43-year-old Vernon Shoats Sr., a male resident of Macon, Georgia, came to a tragic end. On the evening of January 22nd, deputies from the Bibb County Sheriff's Office responded to a call of a person shot at the Hidden Lake Apartments. Upon their arrival, they discovered Shoats on the floor of his apartment with multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene shortly before 7 p.m. His death marked the first homicide of the year in Macon.
The initial investigation quickly pointed to a domestic dispute. Shoats's wife, Tenita Shoats, who was 45 at the time, informed deputies that she and her husband had been arguing and had a physical confrontation leading up to the shooting. She stated that her husband had been holding a gun, and at some point during the altercation, she managed to get the weapon away from him and shot him in the chest and head. Following questioning, Tenita Shoats was arrested and charged with murder. She was subsequently booked into the Bibb County Law Enforcement Center and denied bond. In April of that year, a grand jury indicted her on charges of malice murder and felony murder.
The case against Tenita Shoats proceeded to trial, where a narrative of a troubled relationship, marked by domestic abuse and the lingering effects of Vernon Shoats's military service, emerged. The defense argued that Tenita Shoats acted in self-defense. Testimony and reports presented during the trial indicated a history of domestic violence and that Vernon, a veteran, suffered from PTSD. On the night of the shooting, he had reportedly not taken his medication. According to the defense, Vernon Shoats had approached his wife with a gun, causing her to fear for her life and leading her to take the firearm and shoot him.
After a week-long trial, the jury deliberated for less than an hour before reaching a verdict in November 2024. They found Tenita Shoats not guilty on all charges, acquitting her of both felony murder and malice murder. The jury accepted the defense's argument that she had acted in self-defense. Following the verdict, the Macon District Attorney's Office acknowledged the history of domestic abuse Mrs. Shoats had endured and stated that the case highlighted the 'complex intersection of domestic violence and our criminal justice system.'
