In what appeared to be a robbery gone tragically wrong, 39-year-old Doris Worrell was found shot and killed inside her family's business, Jon's Sports Park, in Douglas, Georgia, on September 20, 2006. Her husband, Jon Worrell, told authorities he had left the business to run errands and returned to find his wife's body. For many, he was a grieving husband, and the initial investigation explored the possibility that Doris was the victim of a botched robbery, with some reports suggesting a person
who had been banned from the sports park might have been responsible.
As the years passed with no resolution, the case grew cold, but investigators with the Coffee County Sheriff's Office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation continued to pursue leads, both domestically and internationally. Suspicions eventually turned towards Jon Worrell as evidence of marital problems and an inappropriate relationship with the family's live-in nanny, Paola Yarberry, came to light. Investigators learned that Jon Worrell feared losing custody of his children in a potential divorce, which they believe was a motive for him to start planning his wife's murder. At one point, two other men, Glidden Rodriguez and Brandon Cage, were arrested in connection with the murder, but the charges were ultimately dropped due to a lack of evidence. One of these men, Glidden Rodriguez, has since passed away.
After his wife's death, Jon Worrell moved first to Florida and then to Costa Rica, where he was joined by Paola Yarberry. The couple lived together and raised the children Jon had with Doris. A significant breakthrough in the nearly two-decade-old case came when investigators learned that Jon Worrell and Paola Yarberry's relationship had ended and that he had returned to the United States. GBI agents traveled to Costa Rica and were able to gain the cooperation of Yarberry, who provided critical information.
Armed with this new testimony and corroborated evidence, authorities arrested Jon Worrell, then 58, at his home in Maryville, Missouri, in May 2025. He was charged with Malice Murder, Felony Murder, Conspiracy to Commit Murder, and Aggravated Battery in connection with his wife's death. After waiving extradition, he was booked into the Coffee County Jail. The case against him will be prosecuted by the Waycross Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office.
