A Florida man fatally shot his wife in the neck after she accused him of cheating during a raging dispute – and a jury took only 17 minutes to convict the violent brute of the vicious slaying, prosecutors said.
Shantell Adkins, 37, was found guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder and other charges for killing his 34-year-old wife, Shawntai, inside their Daytona Beach home on Oct. 19, 2023, according to the State Attorney’s Office for the 7th Judicial Circuit.
Prosecutors said the slain woman’s parents witnessed the heartless execution after she called them for help as the lovers’ quarrel spiraled out of control.
“It is every parent’s worst nightmare to lose a child,” State Attorney R.J. Larizza said in a statement.
“Adkins executed our victim in front of her parents and then threatened to do the same to them. Another domestic murder and another devastated family.”
The victim confronted her husband after finding suspicious text messages earlier in the day that allegedly exposed his infidelity, her mother said during a deposition, the Miami Herald reported.
The heated exchange escalated when the fuming wife accused her spouse, who had recently entered treatment for alcohol abuse, for driving her motorcycle while drunk – prompting her to call her parents to help calm the situation.
But when they arrived, the unhinged manica grabbed his rifle and fired the fatal round – leaving the woman’s parents running in fear from their deranged son-in-law before he shot himself in the shoulder, the outlet reported.
The wife died at the grim scene, and her father suffered a broken leg while running, prosecutors said.
Adkins was also convicted on two counts of aggravated assault following the two-day trial.
He is expected to be locked away for life when he is sentenced on June 23.
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