Elizabeth Shannon was just fifteen years old when she helped her mother kill her stepfather. According to court documents Joan Shannon marriage to David Shannon was falling apart as she had started an affair with another man. Joan Shannon would plan with Elizabeth Shannon to get rid of her stepfather so she could move forward with the other man. This teen killer would fatally shoot David Shannon as he lay sleeping on the couch.
When Elizabeth Shannon was arrested she would tell police she was just doing what her mother told her to do. Elizabeth would testify against her own mother in exchange for a lighter prison sentence which turned out to be over thirty years. Joan Shannon was sentenced to life in prison
Elizabeth Shannon 2023 Information
| Offender Number: | 0919740 |
| Inmate Status: | ACTIVE |
| Gender: | FEMALE |
| Race: | WHITE |
| Ethnic Group: | EUROPEAN/N.AM./AUSTR |
| Birth Date: | 06/24/1987 |
| Age: | 32 |
| Current Location: | NCCI WOMEN |
Elizabeth Shannon Other News
A Fayetteville teenager who admitted to shooting and killing her stepfather and testified against her mother in the case as part of a plea deal was sentenced Thursday to a maximum of 31 years in prison.
Last year, Elizabeth Shannon pleaded guilty in the 2002 slaying of U.S. Army Maj. David Shannon, but said her mother, Joan Shannon, convinced her to commit the crime.
In a deal with prosecutors, however, Elizabeth Shannon testified against her mother, who, on Aug. 31, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
“I’m truly sorry,” Shannon, who was 15 years old at the time of the crime, said in court Thursday. “I made devastating choices. I’ll carry the shame the rest of my life.”
Elizabeth Shannon told jurors that her mother first tried to poison Maj. Shannon and when that did not work, she gave the teen a gun and asked her to commit the crime so that she could be with a man she met at a party.
During Joan Shannon’s trial, though, defense attorneys attacked Elizabeth Shannon’s past, suggesting she was linked to gangs and that their client was the victim of a “lying daughter.”
“I think her testifying was vital,” said Assistant District Attorney Billy West. “We had to have the testimony of Elizabeth Shannon. I think we knew from the beginning.”
Elizabeth Shannon’s attorney plans to appeal the sentence, saying it is still too harsh. Meanwhile, Shannon and her mother will be housed in different prisons.
https://www.wral.com/news/local/story/120568/
Elizabeth Shannon More News
16-year-old has pleaded guilty to murdering her stepfather and will testify against her mother, who is accused of plotting the killing.
Elizabeth Shannon admitted she shot Army Maj. David Shannon twice as he slept on July 23, 2002. Shannon, 40, was assigned to Ft. Bragg.
Elizabeth Shannon pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree murder and conspiracy. She will be sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in prison if she cooperates in the prosecution of her mother, Joan, according to an agreement with prosecutors.
Elizabeth Shannon told investigators that she killed her stepfather because she was tired of her mother asking her to do it.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2004-06-13-0406130138-story.html
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Elizabeth Shannon is currently incarcerated at the North Carolina Correctional Institute
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Elizabeth Shannon is not scheduled to be released until 2031
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Elizabeth Shannon More News
A Fayetteville woman was found guilty on all counts in connection with the death of her Army husband and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Wednesday.
Joan Shannon is accused of planning her husband’s death and persuading her 15-year-old daughter, Elizabeth Shannon, to kill Army Maj. David Shannon in 2002. She faced charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and accessory after-the-fact.
Joan Shannon stared into space as the verdict was read; her family cried and dropped their heads.
“We were hoping that it would go our way,” said prosecutor Billy West. “We were confident that it would go our way and we were satisfied with that.”
Joan Shannon’s late husband’s family members supported her all along, believing Elizabeth Shannon acted alone. The teenage girl pleaded guilty in 2004 and testified against her mother.
“Elizabeth is a very vindictive, evil child,” said Virginia Schanz, Joan Shannon’s sister-in-law. “She has been that way ever since I first met her. She is evil.”
Joan Shannon did not testify in her own defense, a decision her family said they believed to be “right at the time.” She also had a chance to address the court Wednesday, but chose not to do so.
Jurors deliberated for more than nine hours Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday morning, however, jurors told Superior Court Judge Jim Hardin that they could not reach a verdict.
Hardin told jurors that it was their duty to keep working on the verdict and that they should try their hardest to reconcile their differences without giving up what they believe to be the truth.
On Tuesday, jurors asked to see photographic evidence in the case, as well as transcripts from some of the witnesses who testified in the trial. The judge granted the request to see the photos, but not the request to review the transcripts.
Hardin said Wednesday that he plans to ask the prison system to house Joan Shannon and her daughter separately
https://www.wral.com/news/local/story/119635/
Joan Shannon 2021 Information
| JOAN M SHANNON | |
| Offender Number: | 0911825 |
| Inmate Status: | ACTIVE |
| Gender: | FEMALE |
| Race: | WHITE |
| Ethnic Group: | EUROPEAN/N.AM./AUSTR |
| Birth Date: | 04/12/1967 |
| Age: | 53 |
| Current Location: | ANSON CI |