Gabriella Shepherd Lemon Grove California woman arrested in fatal shooting of husband, Noah Shepherd, pastor at the San Diego Reformed Presbyterian Church.
A California mother of two accused of murdering her pastor husband, has claimed the fatal shooting was an accident according to reports.
Noah David Shepherd, 29, the pastor of San Diego Reformed Presbyterian Church was fatally shot by his wife Gabriella ‘Gabby’ Rose Shepherd at their home in Lemon Grove on Monday night according to NBC 7 San Diego.
The couple, who reportedly married in 2016, lived at the home with their two young sons. Gabby Shepherd called 911 after the ‘incident’ reportedly telling police that she accidentally shot her husband when he came into the home through the back door Monday evening. At the time of the shooting, just on 6pm, Gabby said she believed the individual entering the back door was an intruder.
Neighbors say they heard two shots around 6 p.m… a short pause… and then at least five more shots. Homicide detectives say deputies responding to the 911 call found Noah bleeding in his backyard.
‘When they arrived, they found an adult male who had been shot behind a residence,’ said Lt. Thomas Seiver with the Sheriff’s Homicide Unit told CBS8. ‘The deputies attempted life saving measures until relieved by fire personnel. The male was transported to a local area hospital, but unfortunately he was pronounced deceased shortly after arriving.’
‘My best friend…’
During their investigations, police determined that the shooting was not accidental as Gabby Shepherd had claimed. Police returned the couple’s Lemon Grove residence later that evening and arrested the woman on suspicion of first-degree murder.
Police declined to say what led them to arriving at the conclusion that the woman’s husband had not been accidentally shot but rather shot by design.
Of note, no prior restraining orders or domestic instances were filed between the couple.
A regard of the couple’s social media accounts shows the couple boasting selfies during happier times, as well as wedding photos from their nuptials in August 2016. In one post, Gabby called Noah her ‘best friend.’
According to an online biography, Noah Shepherd grew up in a churchgoing family and professed faith in Christ at age 13, while attending summer camp. As a young adult, he befriended Gabby’s older brother and later fell in love with Gabby.
According to Shepherd’s Facebook page, Noah graduated from Providence Christian College in Pasadena in 2016 and from Westminster Seminary California in Escondido in May 2020.
The fatal shooting has since unnerved the Lemon Grove community.
No known motive
‘Noah was brilliant, a true scholar of the Bible and knew Greek and Hebrew quite well,’ Pastor Nathan Eshelman, a leader with the Pacific Coast Presbytery, told NBC 7 San Diego. ‘He was a godly man, a good dad and husband, and extremely humble.’
To date, authorities have yet to say what may have motived the pastor’s wife in murdering her husband.
Gabby Shepherd remains held behind bars at Las Colinas Detention without bail.
Gabby is due in court for an arraignment at the El Cajon courthouse on Thursday afternoon.
